Definitely Something
by Stessa
Summary: AU College. Initially not interested in joining her friends at a tiny bar for beers and pool, recently single Nicole Haught meets barmaid Waverly Earp and is immediately intrigued. [Wayhaught]
1. Chapter One: The First Meeting

**DEFINITELY SOMETHING**

 **CHAPTER ONE: THE FIRST MEETING**

"Hey, Haught! Hey – stop. Wait a minute!"

Hearing her name being called from behind her, Nicole quickly ducked behind a group of exhausted looking university students, hoping against all odds that she could shield herself from the incoming question. The hallway was busting with Friday-jitters as most of the students planned to drink the night away and extend their essays, papers, researches to Saturday or Sunday. Most of them would be excited that a week of classes and lectures was finally over, and they all wanted to free themselves from any responsibilities for just a night.

Nicole remembered clearly how that excitement felt; she used to spend her Fridays partying with Shae and their friends before spending Saturday cozying up with her girlfriend and then stressing on Sunday to get their studies done before another week of lectures started. The last month her Fridays had been spent at the gym before she cooked herself a meal, grabbed a beer and altered between studying, calling her parents or watching Netflix with Calamity Jane.

And she was quite contended with that, thank you very much. She'd been looking forward all weekend to her date with her television. She sure wasn't about to let Eliza Shapiro and Xavier Dolls change her plans, no matter what they had in mind.

Their Criminology course had just ended; their professor sending them off to enjoy their weekend with a shitload of cases to read, and Nicole had planned on dodging her only two friends on that course to spend the night by herself. It wasn't like she had many friends in any of her courses; most of them wanted to become lawyers or maybe even social workers. It was only she, Dolls and Eliza that planned on getting their degrees and then getting into law enforcement. Eliza and Dolls had ambitions far beyond what Nicole had in mind for herself; what she wanted to do most was get the hell out of the big city and become a small-town officer but hardly anyone understood her desire when she tried to explain it to them. Not that a lot of people asked anyway.

"Nicole Haught, goddamnit!" Eliza cursed, her voice sounding above all of the other students in the hallway. She had a voice on her, able to silence an entire auditorium if she needed to.

The redhead sighed to herself, leaning against the wall around the corner, hoping against all odds that they'd just admit defeat and try again next Friday. No such luck though, because before she knew it, Dolls' head was peeking around the corner, dark eyes meeting hers in a knowing look.

Eliza's head appeared besides his. "You can't hide from us, Haught," she simply said, placing a hand on her hip and jutting it out. She meant business.

Nicole pushed herself off the wall, eyeing them sheepishly, "Hey, I wasn't," she stopped herself, biting the inside of her cheek, "I wasn't hiding, OK?"

Dolls smirked. "Sure you weren't."

"Walk with us," Eliza added, taking a firm hold on Nicole's spare arm (the other was clutching her textbooks against her chest), before dragging her with them down the hallway.

Nicole almost fell over her long legs, frantically looking around, trying to spot a familiar head of dark hair, mostly because she knew that Shae's Advanced Anatomy course had just ended, and she really didn't want to see her ex. Eliza's grip on her arm tightened, almost as if she knew what Nicole was thinking, and Nicole objected. "Hey, Shapiro, cut it out!"

Rolling her eyes, Eliza paused when they were finally outside in the February afternoon, the last rays of sunshine hitting the giant 'University of Alberta'-sign hanging above the entrance to the building. The blonde woman hoisted her bag onto her shoulder to get a better grip at it. "No more moping around, Haught, we're tired of it, and we only see your pathetic face like thrice a week."

"Hey," Nicole objected, an offended look appearing on her face, "it's not pathetic."

Dolls offered her a pointed glare. "Sure thing, Haught," he said, forehead crinkling, "we just wanted to offer you to grab a beer with us later, yeah?"

The redhead shifted uncomfortably at her feet. She'd really been looking forward to that new season of that show about the cops. She knew Calamity Jane had, too. "I'm not sure…" she trailed off, nervously.

"Shae's a bitch, OK? A stupid, stuck-up, pretentious bitch," Eliza said, oh so eloquently, "with stupid, stuck-up pretentious friends."

Nicole brushed her off, "She's not, look, she's not a bitch, she's just…"

Eliza ignored her, "We know it's been shitty for you, getting single and shit, so why don't you come grab a beer with us, Haught?" She offered Nicole a soft smile, for the first time that day taking a kinder approach to convincing her friend of her plans. "Dolls has a crush on this chick who owns a bar, and the beer's cheap and people are nice, and most importantly," she glared at Nicole, "it's nowhere near those university gay-places that Shae and her posse like to hang out."

"Come on, Haught," Dolls added and offered her a smile, "just one beer. We'll meet you outside, yeah?"

Nicole thought about it for a second, not really sure if she had the energy to go out and socialise. Sure, she could go for a beer and always ditch them if she wasn't feeling up for it, and CJ and Netflix could definitely wait until Saturday morning, but did she really feel like dressing up? Her sweatpants had been calling her name all day. She was about to open her mouth to let them down with some lame excuse, but then she thought about Shae and how her ex-girlfriend was probably already getting dressed and getting drunk with all of her friends – Nicole's _former_ friends – only to go out to one of the many bars or clubs they used to visit so she could find another random hook-up and definitely not mope around at home, thinking about Nicole.

The redhead jutted out her chin and shot her friends a toothy grin. "Sure," she said, "so where're we going?"

—

Nicole glanced sceptically up at the sign that said 'Shorty's' with big, bold letters. This place was a lot different than the fancy cocktail bars and clubs that Nicole had come so accustomed to after meeting Shae. It looked a lot shadier, but also a lot cosier. It was also in a completely different part of town that Nicole had not spent a lot of time visiting.

She wasn't quite sure how Dolls ended up crushing on a girl who owned this sort of bar, but she was willing to give it a shot at least because then she knew that Dolls and Eliza would leave her alone for the next week or so. Besides, now that she was actually there (even though her friends were late, which was probably Eliza's fault, because it _always_ was) she was kind of looking forward to spending a night doing something completely different.

She didn't want to wait outside though, so even though this was not a place Nicole would have chosen to visit herself, she decided to wait for her friends inside, get started on that beer. She pushed the door open and stepped into a dusty saloon-like bar. Patrons were sitting in clusters around the room, and in the middle was a huge wooden bar, which Nicole walked straight towards. She took a seat on a barstool, awkwardly glancing around the room as she felt all eyes on her. She had a strange suspicion that most people in this room were regulars and that newcomers was a rare sight.

It was like visiting another era completely; she felt like she was a part of the Old West and that gunslingers and barmaids would be a natural addition to atmosphere in the little bar. There were pictures and signs on the walls, an old piano on one side of the room. She understood why Dolls liked this place though; it seemed to be just the pace that a quiet man like him would enjoy for this Friday night.

Nicole was pulled out of her thoughts on Shorty's when a slightly familiar voice spoke her name.

"Nicole?"

Sliding around on the barstool, the redhead came face to face with Rosita – a girl who had been dating one of Shae's friends for a little while and had thus hung out with Nicole quite a bit. Nicole had never spoken much to her though; she seemed quite nice, but not really Nicole's choice or type at all. If she remembered correctly, Rosita was hella smart and had, like, two or three majors.

"Hi," she cheered, eyes turning wide as she looked at the 'Shorty's' written across her low-cut tank-top, "Rosita, right?"

The brunette nodded her head, and Nicole noticed that the tips of her dark hair were coloured a light pink. "Yeah!" She smiled, reaching for a large glass beneath the bar. "You want a beer?"

Nicole nodded, watching in silence for a few seconds as the other woman poured her beer. "So like, you work here?" She questioned, which was obvious of course, since the other girl was behind the bar and she was wearing a shirt that said 'Shorty's' and all.

"Yeah," Rosita grinned, her apple cheeks popping. She was wearing a light lipgloss that shimmered as she spoke. "My uh, my roommate knows one of the owners, I guess," she paused, "He got me the job." She finished, sliding the jug of beer across the bar into Nicole's waiting hands.

Nicole mouthed a silent thank you and took a long gulp of it. It was a good beer. "So what? It's been a while since I saw you. Everything OK?" She asked then, even though she could probably guess what had happened. Shae's friends had a tendency to swap their girlfriends every other month. Nicole was surprised that she herself had even lasted as long as she had with Shae, now that she was on the other end of the relationship.

Rosita shrugged her shoulder and casually wiped a towel over the surface of the bar. "Ginnifer and I were, what do you say," she pretended to search for the word, even though it seemed to Nicole that she was quite certain what she was going to say, "different," she finished, smirking, "You know, with her being such a pretentious asshole and all."

Nicole coughed slightly to hide a laugh. "Yeah? She dumped you or what."

The brunette flipped her high ponytail. "Nah, I actually dumped her, but if you ask Ginnifer, she'll probably tell you differently," she finished, brown eyes searching Nicole's face; running over her features softly. "So why are you not out with _your girlfriend_?"

Not for the first time since she and Shae broke up did Nicole notice how people seemed to refer to her girlfriend with a slight disdain. It wasn't like she didn't get why people would think of Shae like that; she was driven, smart, beautiful, and that scared people. Plus, she had a tendency to dismiss people who weren't driven, smart and beautiful as nothing. Nicole had experienced another side of her though, while they were together, but ultimately Shae's attitude towards other people had caused them some troubles. Not to mention Shae's attitude towards Nicole's studies and her chosen career-path. What had first been attractive about Nicole had for Shae later turned into something else entirely, and as she'd expressed multiple times, she just couldn't imagine how an aspiring surgeon to-be could be tied to a small-town cop.

Nicole flicked her head. "Broke up," she just said, before she gulped down another large sip of beer.

Rosita squinted her eyebrows. She wasn't busy, Nicole could tell, but that was probably because the place seemed to have just opened and it was still early on in the evening for a Friday night. The brunette sighed. "Sorry to hear that."

She didn't seem to be.

Nicole glanced briefly at her watch. Damn Eliza was really taking forever picking out her outfit. Maybe she had plans on hooking up tonight? Nicole wondered briefly if Rosita would be of Eliza's taste and vice-versa. "Don't be," she grumbled, "it was eh, mutual, I guess," she finished. And that was at least what she told herself, even though she was probably missing Shae way more than the other way around.

"And now you're…" she trailed off, eyes scanning the room, "here?" She snorted, "Why are you here?"

The redhead had been asking herself the same question, but as fate would happen, she was, and now she was talking to Rosita and it wasn't half bad. "I'm meeting some friends, they uh, they've been here before."

Nodding, Rosita turned to pour a jug of beer to an older gentleman and Nicole checked her phone. There was a text from Dolls with the simple message 'on our way soon', and Nicole really wanted to call Eliza and tell her to hurry up. She didn't think Rosita would have the time to talk to her all evening; the bell at the door kept dinging and soon people would be demanding a lot of beer.

Just then the door sounded again and a brunette with hair like a mare and a Hollywood stylist, dressed in tight black jeans, a ripped t-shirt and a leather jacket with fringes scurried across the floor to the bar. She jumped onto it, swinging her legs over the side and landing on the floor next to Rosita. The bartender didn't even blink, which made Nicole believe that this was a regular occurrence and nothing out of the ordinary.

"Rosita," the brunette breathed, reaching for the shelf behind her and getting down a bottle of whiskey. "Waves is late, something 'bout something 'bout a paper," she breathed, unscrewing the lid on the bottle and taking a long gulp of it. Nicole felt her eyes go wide. "Where's Doc?"

"Office," Rosita murmured, offering the other woman a strained smile.

The woman swallowed loudly and leaned herself against the side of the bar. Finally, she seemed to acknowledge that she and Rosita were not, in fact, alone, and she offered Nicole a pointed look. "Hi Red," she murmured.

Nicole's eyebrows rose. "It's Nicole actually, but you're pretty close," she smoothly replied, reaching a hand across the bar and offering it to the other woman.

"Wynonna," she replied while completely ignoring Nicole's extended hand. "I'm Rosita's boss, you know, owns the bar and shit."

Nicole almost spluttered out that sip of beer she had just taken when she realised what that meant. It wasn't like she'd seen Dolls date anyone while she had known him, ever, but if she'd spent a little time imagining what his dates would look like, this messy, sexy, fireball of a woman definitely wasn't it. But then again, Dolls had never actually said that they were dating. Maybe it was just wishful thinking on his part. She managed to swallow her beer. "Oh, so you know Dolls?" Was all she got across her lips, casually wiping them with the back of her hand.

Wynonna quizzically watched her, opening her bottle of whiskey once more, only to take a sip of it. "I might," she replied, "You gonna be a cop too?"

Nicole had no idea how that was so obvious, she wasn't exactly dressed for her future job today; in a pair of skin-tight jeans, a white t-shirt and a cap holding her red hair in place. She tilted her head. "We study together at the university."

Rolling her eyes, Wynonna replied, "You have the stench of future cop on you," she commented, blue eyes giving Nicole the once-over, no doubt trying to decide whether she liked her or not. Nicole wasn't sure if she wanted her to.

Once more, Rosita rolled her eyes and nudged Wynonna slightly with her hip. "Go away, boss, Nicole's cool," she said, a smile playing across her lips.

Wynonna took a step away from them, walking backwards towards the door that neatly said 'Office' in pretty penmanship; somehow Nicole doubted that it was Wynonna's writing, she imagined that to be somewhat messier. "I don't know why I put up with you, Burstillos," she argued with a pointed glare, as her butt came into contact with the swinging door, revealing a sliver of the backroom.

Rosita chuckled, a blush rising to paint her cheeks rosy. "You do it for Waves, remember that."

"Oh yeah," Wynonna replied, before she pushed herself into the other room with a nudge of her butt, the swing-door smacking close behind her as she disappeared from sight.

Nicole couldn't hide her chuckle. She was slightly scared of this Wynonna person, but at the same time slightly intrigued. She swung her body around on the barstool and grinned at Rosita. "So she's..." She trailed off, not sure what Wynonna really was. It seemed like there were no words to accurately describe her.

Rosita grinned. "She's my boss, yeah? I'm better with Waverly, she's not quite as," she licked her lips, lip gloss shimmering, and blush growing even warmer, "tough."

Nicole had no idea who Waverly was, and she tried to convey that by looking like a big question mark.

"Waverly is Wynonna's sister," Rosita explained, pointing backwards with a thumb over her shoulder. "She's friends with my roommate, so that's why I got the job," she stopped, jutting out her chin and turned to pour two pitchers of beer for a group of people at the bar. "She's my friends too, I guess. She and Wynonna own the bar together with Doc," she explained lastly.

"Cool," Nicole replied, nodding her head.

Rosita cast her eyes downwards, once more running the towel over the surface of the bar, as her ponytail danced.

Nicole looked up when she felt someone sit down next to her, and she was pleasantly surprised to see that it was Dolls and Eliza; flanking each of her sides. Dolls was business as usual, but Eliza had dressed herself in a skin-tight black dress and high heels. Shorty's was, by all means, not exactly the place where one would expect people to look like that, but who knew what kind of plans she had later. She greeted Nicole with a smirk.

"Sorry we're late," Dolls stated as he held two fingers out for Rosita to see, indicating that he wanted two beers.

Nicole sipped her own glass. "It's okay, I was talking to Rosita," she replied with a dismissive shrug. It really was actually, she hadn't minded that much. "I met Wynonna," she grinned, flashing him a teasing smile. It was always fun to yank his chain.

Brown eyes moving towards the door to the office, Dolls answered, "Is she here?"

Nicole nodded her head. "She seems uh, great?"

Eliza stuck her tongue out at them. "I told him to forget it. She's not gonna settle down with some cop, man," she said, offering Rosita a thankful smile as a beer was placed in front of her. "Have you told Nic how you met her?"

Dolls sighed in annoyance, and now Nicole really wanted to know how he met her. "No," she teased, drawing out the 'o', "how did you meet her, X?"

Rolling his eyes, Dolls took a sip of his beer, "I hate you, Shapiro," he mumbled, but he turned to answer Nicole all the same. "She was thrown in jail, OK? When I was interning a few weeks ago at the precinct, she got thrown in holding and we sort of got to talking, OK? Enough with the teasing, Shapiro," he added, shooting her a pointed glare.

The redhead couldn't hold back her laugh. "No way! Where was I? Why am I only now hearing 'bout this?" She wanted to know. Sure she'd been busy and stuff, but Dolls crushing on an arrested woman? That was so unlike him, and everything Nicole would have liked to witness.

Eliza nudged her with an elbow to the side. "I told you, you were being weird and mopey, and it's not like we didn't try," she raised an eyebrow and clinked her glass to Nicole's, "But that's over now, yeah?"

Nicole wasn't really sure that it was, but she had to admit that she was feeling better already. Going out with her fellow future cop-friends, seeing Rosita, meeting Wynonna – it was quite okay when she came to think of it. She'd hardly thought of Shae since she entered the bar, and that was saying something. Shae had been everything on her mind since their break-up, so maybe this was exactly the kind of change of pace that she needed. "Maybe so," she replied, taking a gulp of beer and turning to Dolls again, "but enough about me. What are you gonna do about this chick, X?"

Groaning, Dolls slipped off his chair and did his best to dodge their questions. "We gonna play some pool or what?" He wanted to know then, angling his body towards the pool table and stepping closer to get his point across.

"I'm gonna crush you," Nicole teasingly threatened, slipping off her barstool as well and following him to the table. She grabbed a cue stick and started lining the table. "Eight-ball?" She questioned, even though it was hardly a question. They always played eight-ball, and Dolls always lost, but maybe he'd bettered his skills while Nicole had been busy drinking fancy drinks with Shae and her friends.

Dolls grabbed a cue stick as well. "You breaking?"

Eliza was hanging on the side of the table, already looking bored. "Is this gonna take all night?" She demanded to know, eyes scanning the place, probably looking for something more interesting to do with her time; maybe someone to show off that dress to. It didn't appear that she'd had much interest in chatting up Rosita.

Nicole broke the rack with swift movement of her cue stick and the balls scattered around the table. "Go find a person," she murmured, and Eliza strutted off on her heels, moving towards a table in the back of the room filled with a group of guys approximately their age. "Stripes," she said then, after looking over the table, considering every ball and angle.

Dolls was about to reply to her, probably offering her a sly comment, when the door to the bar was pushed open and a whirlwind of a woman entered the space. She was all hair, and murmurs of sorry, and bare legs on display, and Nicole felt her eyes turn wider as they followed this little mess of a woman into the space behind the bar where she greeted Rosita with a warm hug and a kiss on the cheek.

The redhead couldn't tear her eyes away; the woman was pulling off a scarf and fixing her hair, and suddenly Nicole noticed the long-sleeved shirt that said 'Shorty's', much similar to the tank-top Rosita was wearing.

'That must be Waverly,' Nicole thought to herself, and she had probably continued to stare if this Waverly person hadn't decided to look straight at her then, thus catching her in the act. She bent her head and sheepishly turned her attention back to the pool table.

Dolls raised an eyebrow. "That's Wynonna's sister," he simply stated, grabbing his beer from the side of the table and taking a gulp of it.

Nicole rolled her eyes, before positioning her cue stick, "Shut up, Dolls," she murmured, but she couldn't help it; while they played their game she was completely aware of exactly what Waverly was doing, and she swore she heard her laugh aloud multiple times while talking to Rosita or serving customers. It wasn't like she kept looking at her or anything, there was just something about the other woman that seemed to draw Nicole in, even if she had never spoken to her or anything.

She completely crushed Dolls, of course, like always, but it really hadn't benefited his game that Wynonna had appeared from the back office with slightly disheveled hair and a strut in her steps, only to take a seat on the corner of the table and give out (horrible) pointers that Dolls mostly listened to, because he was smitten and soft, even if he would never admit it. Nicole saw the appeal in Wynonna, of course, she was dangerous with a devil may care-attitude; it wasn't and never would be her taste in a woman, but Dolls appeared to be attracted to women who had the power to hurt him.

Of course he'd burned himself with Eliza when they'd first met, and it had taken some time, but now they were all friends, and it was nice, but Nicole really didn't wish for him to go through all of that shit again. Especially because Wynonna seemed to be attracted to Dolls as well, but she was drinking whiskey straight out of the bottle, barking out orders and she had been thrown in holding.

Nicole was going to have to remind her friend of that when they saw each other again on Monday. She had a sneaky suspicion that Eliza hadn't stressed that part enough times for him, or maybe he'd just decided not to listen.

She found herself making her way up to the bar again, wanting to get away from the pool table; Wynonna had started showing Dolls some moves and it was already going horribly wrong. Eliza was making out with a guy from that table in the back, and Nicole knew she wasn't going to get her friend's attention anymore that night. She slipped onto a barstool then, watching as Rosita and Waverly moved in sync behind the bar, serving beer and shots and whiskey. A soft song was playing, and people seemed to be in a good mood.

Nicole found her eyes raking over Waverly's form; from the long toned legs tugged into boots, to the tiny jeans-shorts, the sliver of skin on her midriff and over her blue and red shirt. Long brown hair fell down her back in soft cascades and she was humming in concentration, tongue peeking out briefly as she sliced up another lemon for a round of tequila.

Someone cleared their throat and Nicole turned her head to the side to find Rosita looking at her with a raised eyebrow and an amused expression on her face. Uh, she'd been caught.

"Can I get you anything?" She questioned and her voice had an edge to it. "Not a better view, I suppose," she added, sharply.

Nicole straightened her back. "Just another beer," she replied, and she could feel a faint blush creeping up her cheeks. She was thankful that it had turned darker inside the bar, otherwise the other woman would have probably seen it.

"Waves," Rosita called then, and Nicole felt her eyes turn wide, "can we get another beer over here?"

The ray of sunshine that seemed to be Waverly immediately grabbed a bottle from the cooler and opened it with a flick of her wrist. She placed the bottle in front of Nicole and leaned onto Rosita's shoulder. "What's up, Rosie?" She wanted to know, and Nicole swore that her voice was the softest and cutest thing she had ever heard.

Rosita motioned towards the redhead. "This is Nicole," she informed Waverly then, brown eyes twinkling, "Apparently she's friends with your sister's new boytoy," she couldn't hide her smirk, and her lips shimmered, "And uh, we know each other from, y'know, being queer and stuff."

Waverly giggled. "Sure," she replied, reaching a hand out and offering it to Nicole. "Waverly Earp."

The redhead gladly took her hand, and she swore that she felt a surge of electricity run from her fingers and up her arm when their skin touched. Her hand was soft, little, in Nicole's own, and she held on for maybe a second too long. "Nicole Haught," she replied, finally dropping the hand to the table. She missed the contact instantly.

Rosita moved to serve a customer at the other end of the bar, and Waverly followed her movement with her eyes, before turning back to Nicole with a sheepish grin. She leaned her elbows on the bar, and thus came a little closer to Nicole, invading her personal space, although the redhead absolutely didn't mind. She smelled nice. "So, have you and Rosie, uuuh?" She trailed off, not finishing her question.

Nicole spluttered and almost fell off the barstool. Sure, Rosita had just said to Waverly that they knew each other from 'being queer and stuff', but that had never been on Nicole's radar. Yes, Rosita was beautiful and smart, but Nicole didn't really know her at all. Of course Waverly didn't know this, so the redhead hurried to explain her acquaintance with the other woman. "No!" She said, "No, Rosita was just dating one of my…" she trailed off, not sure how to phrase it in a way so she didn't have to give Waverly her entire break-up story, " _friends_ ," she settled for, "a while back."

Waverly eyed her quizzically, "Not Ginnifer, right?"

Licking her lips, Nicole sighed. She wasn't sure why, but she didn't want Waverly to think that she was friends with people like Ginnifer, "She's more like an acquaintance," she whispered softly.

The brunette seemed to take that as a valid answer and pushed herself away from the bar again. "Well, I better help Rosie with the drunken patrons," she said, motioning towards the small cluster of people that had gathered in front of a stressed out Rosita.

Nicole tried to hide her disappointment. She would really have liked to talk a bit more with Waverly. "Sure, you are working and all," she replied, grabbing her beer and taking a sip of it. A few droplets of water trailed over her fingers. "It was nice to meet you though."

Waverly's face lit up in a giant smile. "Likewise, Nicole," she replied, running a dishtowel over the bar and moving towards Rosita. Nicole couldn't help but notice the warm smile that Rosita greeted the smaller brunette with, and the way their bodies seemed to move so easily around each other; as if they'd been doing this dance for years. They seemed quite familiar with each other for co-workers, but of course Rosita had also referred to Waverly as her friend and not just her boss.

As she went back to play against Dolls and Wynonna, she couldn't help but think that she wanted to spend a bit more time with Waverly Earp – those few minutes by the bar had simply not quenched her curiosity. Waverly Earp seemed sweet, beautiful, definitely attractive, and that was the first time Nicole had thought that since she and Shae broke up, so that was saying something. But maybe she would get to spend a bit more time with Waverly, after all, it didn't seem like Dolls was going to give up on Wynonna right now, and this place was hardly the worst bar she'd ever been to. Plus, Rosita worked here, so they had to be okay with queers and LGBTQ's.

Nicole didn't get to speak more to Waverly that night, but when she found herself snuggling up to Calamity Jane in her bed at approximately 2:30 after one too many beers and tired as hell, she closed her eyes and saw only the tiny brunette's beautiful face. Yes, she didn't really know her at all, but Nicole sure wouldn't mind to.

Waverly Earp was definitely something alright.


	2. Chapter Two: Running in the Park

**CHAPTER TWO: RUNNING IN THE PARK**

Nicole was awoken to the soft, but insisting, meow of Calamity Jane. The orange tabby was sitting on the floor next to her bed, eyes huge and round, staring up at her, demanding to be fed. Nicole squinted an eye open, staring down at her companion of seven years, and she let her hand tumble out of bed, dangling from the side to offer the cat a suiting stroke. Calamity Jane purred and continued to lick Nicole's hand as a sign of affection.

"I'm awake," Nicole grumbled, staring down at the relentless animal, and fumbling for her glasses on the nightstand, "I'm coming CJ," she added, pushing them onto her nose while dropping her legs to the floor and following the cat into the kitchenette. She yawned and opened the cupboard, staring down at CJ with a soft smile. The cat sat dutifully right next to her bowl, waiting for Nicole to pour the food. The redhead filled the bowl and ran her spare hand through the orange fur a few times, enjoying the view of her pet happily eating her food. "Spoiled cat," she murmured, before she moved to put the rest of the cat food in the fridge.

She set on her usual morning routine; filling in the grounds for coffee and pouring in the water before turning the machine on. She'd become accustomed to drinking an entire pot herself after she and Shae broke up. The first Saturday as single she'd made an entire pot, just like per usual, only then to realise that she was alone and that it was way too much coffee for one person. Out of spite she'd consumed it all, of course, and so a new routine had begun, even though it was hardly good for her.

She toasted some bread, got out a mug and the milk, and sat everything down on the coffee table in her little living room. Shae and her would usually do their work at the counter separating the kitchenette from the couch, but Nicole had taken to curling up on said couch beneath her blanket, with her books splayed out on the table, coffee right on hand whenever needed. New traditions were good, she'd come to realise, even if Calamity Jane had a tendency to sometimes demand attention by walking all over Nicole's laptop.

Today she just had a lot of cases to read and maybe start on the paper for her Criminology course, but she was also tired from the night before. She wasn't hungover or anything, drinking a lot of beers only would never do that to her, but she was high on something else entirely. Not only had she gone out with her friends and actually had a good time, forgetting about Shae while playing pool and making jokes, but she'd also spent the better part of the evening eyeing Waverly Earp from the pool table as she worked behind the bar. Nicole knew it was hardly a good idea to crush on somebody she didn't even know, and she wouldn't exactly call it a crush, just … attraction? Waverly Earp was definitely attractive, but then again Nicole had never been able to say no to a pretty girl. That didn't mean she crushed on all the pretty girls though.

However, she had to admit, that Waverly Earp seemed to be something else. Nicole was intrigued and she wasn't often intrigued, not like that. She hadn't had the opportunity to speak more to Waverly the night before, but she'd dreamt of the other woman's face and the soft touch of her hand against her own.

The redhead fell onto her couch with a sigh and immediately poured herself a mug of coffee, letting the scent fill her nostrils and the warmth soak into her fingers through the porcelain. Calamity Jane was immediately on her lap, pouring and rubbing her forehead against Nicole's stomach.

"I met the sweetest girl last night, CJ," Nicole whispered, pressing her lips to her cat's fur, "She was so beautiful, you know, I think you would really like her. Her name's Waverly," she said, staring into the feline's eyes as she purred and continued to kneed Nicole's thigh, "Waverly Earp."

She took a sip of her coffee, savouring the taste, before she sat her cup aside on the table. She grabbed the first case in a stack of papers, let CJ do her thing until she got tired, and then tried to read around her. Her glasses were slipping off her nose, so Nicole pushed them further up, and then suddenly the question of whether or not Waverly would like how she looked with glasses filled her mind, and Nicole let herself drift off in thoughts about that for just a minute, before Calamity Jane's jump off the couch pulled her out of it.

Nicole bit her lip as she mused things over for just a second. Maybe she could just- Nah, she should really get some reading done. But she had _Sunday_ for that, yeah? No harm no foul, and it was only 11 o'clock, so she had plenty of time.

She pulled her laptop off the floor and onto the couch, flicking it open and waiting as it loaded. She wouldn't say she was stalking anybody, she was just mastering her skills as a future cop, and that was okay. Actually it was pretty clever to get a hang of it, if she said so herself. She loaded facebook and typed in 'Waverly Earp' in the search-function.

The result was instant – there really weren't many Waverly Earps around, that was for sure. Nicole recognised her by the profile picture immediately and clicked on it. Her profile information was limited, which Nicole – as a future cop, mind you – was happy to see, because that meant that not everybody was privy to information on her. She was taken aback though, as she clicked through the photos of Waverly in various settings, with various braids, and with various people. She was beautiful all the damn time, Nicole concluded. There were several pictures of Waverly with Wynonna by her side, but she also saw her posing with Rosita, or a tiny nerdy looking guy with a Star Wars t-shirt on.

Nicole could see from Waverly's profile that she was a student at the University of Alberta too, which might have explained how she knew Rosita in the first place. Her profile said that she studied History and Ancient Languages, and Nicole wondered if she was just as smart as Rosita too, because from what she'd heard Ancient Languages didn't take in many students, and it was supposed to be quite hard-core with a lot of reading.

From what she could see, Waverly appeared to be a part of a lot of different organisations and clubs on campus. Nicole herself used to do a lot of work in the LGBTQIA Society before she had started spending all her spare time with Shae, and it appeared that Waverly was a woman's right advocate; she was in charge of the only Feminist Club that Nicole had heard of on campus, and it seemed like she was also taking Feminist Lit and Feminism 101 – at least from what Nicole could gather on her profile, but of course that was very limited.

Nicole practically jumped out of her seat when a new message popped up on her screen. She clicked on it and was surprised to see that it was from… Rosita? She forgot she had befriended her back when the other girl hung out with Nicole and her friends.

"What," she murmured, her eyes scanning over Rosita's words.

 _Rosita Bustillos: Hi Nicole, fancy running into you last night. I hope you had a good evening, yeah?_

Nicole found it kind of odd how Rosita would message her something like that. Sure, the other woman could perhaps just be friendly, but it was still kind of weird. Especially because they'd never really talked much beforehand. But she had introduced Nicole to Waverly Earp, so that was something at least. The redhead was about to type out a reply, but paused when she saw the three dots moving, as if Rosita was typing something else as well.

Then they stopped, and Nicole squinted her eyebrows together in confusion. "Should I just write back, CJ?" She questioned the cat, who didn't even lift its head to acknowledge her. Nicole put her fingers to the keyboard and started slowly typing.

 _Nicole Haught: Hey! Well, you too, it was nice to see a familiar face. I had a good evening, thanks. Met some nice people, and that's never a bad thing, you know?_

She was a bit nervous about the last part, not entirely sure why she wanted to text that to Rosita of all people, but she pressed send nonetheless and reached for her toasted bread, taking a bite of it. It was already cold and the butter was completely melted.

Rosita's reply came quickly.

 _Rosita Bustillos: Sure…_

 _Rosita Bustillos: Waverly is very nice._

There was a pause, but Nicole could see that she was still typing.

 _Rosita Bustillos: You do mean her, right?_

Waverly, Wynonna. Everybody, really. And Rosita herself of course, though Nicole hadn't really thought much about that. She'd definitely thought most about Waverly Earp. She held onto her toast with her teeth and typed back.

 _Nicole Haught: Sure… Waverly yeah._

She paused, not sure what more to say to that. Surely Rosita had a point with all of this? Nicole was starting to dislike her attitude a little bit; it was the same way she'd felt when she'd first met her on a night out with her friends, and Ginnifer had brought her along. They'd met at the campus library, she'd told them, and Rosita had irked Nicole the wrong way since the beginning, even if she'd tried to play it nice. And then she'd just not interacted much with her at all, because what was the point even? She'd been Ginnifer's latest conquest, and Nicole had never bothered to get to know them since they were often gone after two or three months anyway.

 _Nicole Haught: Why?_

She sent the last part, deciding to just be frank. It wasn't like she had anything to lose in regards to Rosita. Sure, she and Waverly seemed to be more than just work-friends, judging by their interactions and the pictures Nicole had just stalked her way through, but that didn't meant she had to like Rosita or anything?

 _Rosita Bustillos: Well it's just that…_

(There were the dots again, and Nicole bit her lip impatiently).

 _Rosita Bustillos: Never mind._

Nicole almost spit out that gulp of coffee she'd just taken and coughed, startling Calamity Jane awake. The cat gave her a look of displeasure before trodding off to find a calmer place to nap. Nicole stared at the screen with wide eyes; there were no dots signalling that Rosita was adding more to their conversation, and Nicole felt her annoyance with the other woman grow. What was even the point of their conversation then? She had hardly gotten any viable information out of Nicole, so what had she wanted in the first place?

The redhead slapped her laptop close and pushed it away from herself. She was just too annoyed, restless and wired up to read and study. Maybe she should go for a run instead? Gulping down the rest of her coffee, she scurried into her bedroom to get changed into her running clothes and put in her contacts, hoping that a nice jog through the park would do her some good.

—

The faint February sun warmed Nicole's face as she ran the familiar route through the small park near her apartment. She'd never much cared for the cold, so she was happy that it was finally beginning to look like spring, and soon she'd be able to run without her gloves and scarf on. Her feet hit the gravel mercilessly as she took in everything going on around her; children on the playground, couples holding hands, other joggers running the same path as she did.

Her red hair blew around in the wind as she sped up; there were always the few strands, escaping her bun. It was strange with this new haircut, the length a recent post break-up decision where she'd had Eliza cut her shoulder-length hair to just beneath her chin. She'd not really thought it through, after all she couldn't put it back in her usual braid when it was so short. But it had been a welcoming change, something fresh, and now she'd usually try to make a little bun or just put on one of her caps. She had so many different ones anyway.

Often Dolls and Eliza would join her for a run, but those two were more gym kind of people. Sure, Nicole frequented the gym as well, she needed to go there to lift some weights, but she'd never much cared for running on the treadmill. It was lovelier outside, no matter the weather.

She ran a spurt then, her feet propelling her forward, mind reaching that place where there were no thoughts, no wonderings, just running; her nose was cold, her cheeks were probably rosy, but she loved it, loved running like that, leaving everything behind.

Nicole came to a halt by the little water fountain, dropping onto the grass and splaying herself out, ignoring everything else. Sure, it was a bit too cold to be on the ground, but she needed the moment to herself before she walked home, getting groceries on the way, and then into a hot shower. She closed her eyes, rays of sunshine pricking her eyelids, and she felt herself smile as a certain brunette's face flickered across her inner screen once more. Why was Waverly Earp on her mind like that? The obvious answer was because she was incredibly beautiful, but Nicole knew herself well enough to say that it couldn't just be that. It had to be something else.

Someone fell onto the grass next to her with a huff. "Nicole?"

Opening her eyes, Nicole was surprised to see none other than Waverly Earp, hair swept into two braids and with pink cheeks, smiling down at her as she breathed heavily. She immediately sat up, not expecting the object of her thoughts to suddenly be sitting right next to her. "Waverly?" She questioned, and her confusion had to be evident.

Waverly smiled at her, that damn smile that Nicole had not been able to get off her mind. "I thought that was you," Waverly said then, before continuing, "This is Jeremy."

Then did Nicole realise that a small guy (that guy from the picture on facebook, Nicole was sure of it) had sat down by her feet. He was spluttering, almost coughing as he tried to catch his breath. "Uh, hi?" She said, awkwardly reaching a hand out and padding him on the back.

Jeremy gave her a smile as he continued to wheeze.

"We're trying to get in shape," Waverly explained then, giving Jeremy a look of worry, before her green eyes turned to meet Nicole's. "Especially Jeremy, he's sitting way too still in the lab at school," she smiled at Nicole. "He's a Chemistry major, just like Rosita."

Nodding, Nicole pulled at the grass beneath her hand, not sure what to say. "I'm just, you know, training."

Waverly licked her bottom lip, her tongue peeking out which caused Nicole way too much distraction than was probably a good thing. "Sure! Rosita tells me you're gonna be a cop, right? Just like Xavier and Eliza," she finished, nodding her head and humming to herself. "That's so cool, but you gotta be in shape, yeah? We're at the library too much, we have to move somehow."

Jeremy finally seemed to have caught his breath and he leaned forward, a sheen of sweat covering his face. "I just don't," he breathed, "understand why Rosita," pause, "Rosita isn't forced to do this with you like I am," he commented, brown eyes shimmering. "Fuck."

The brunette shook her head, an amused smile playing across her face. "You very well know I can't force Rosita to do anything she doesn't want to, Jeremy," she said with a dismissive sigh, "and right now she wants to lie in bed and relax, so that's that," she chuckled, before reaching a hand out and stroking Jeremy's arm lightly.

Nicole felt her throat go dry at the casual movement; something that seemed so natural between the two people. She was confused though, because she was sure she'd read Waverly right; her gaydar had always been on point, never once steered her wrong when it came to girls. Waverly did seem awfully cosy with Jeremy though. She felt herself open her mouth to speak before she had a chance to stop herself. "Oh, are you two," she motioned between them, eyebrows scrunched up in confusion, "are you dating?"

Jeremy and Waverly turned to look at each other, and there was a brief moment of silence between them where they just stared at each other, before they both broke into laughs. Jeremy's giggle was high-pitched and undoubtedly cute, and Waverly's laugh streamed all the way out of her throat from her belly, and she looked at Nicole with pure amusement.

"What?" The redhead asked, truly confused.

"Oh, fudgenuggets," Waverly whispered, wiping a runaway tear away from her cheek with the back of her hand. "Jeremy and I? Oh that's so funny!"

Jeremy scrambled to explain themselves. "We met at the LGBTQIA Society at the university," he said, brown eyes meeting Nicole's, "I'm like as gay as they come, no offence to Waves here, but she's got totally the wrong anatomy," he added, before his eyes turned to Waverly's again and they started laughing once more.

Nicole wasn't sure why, but she felt extremely relieved at that piece of information. Her gaydar wasn't totally off then. "Oh, the LGBTQIA Society?" She questioned then, looking at Waverly out of the corner of her eyes. She was very busy playing with that grass though.

Waverly nodded her head. "Yeah! Ever since coming to terms with my bisexuality I've been extremely politically active, starting way back in high school," she explained, now running her fingers through the end of one of her braids, eyes fixated on the damp hair there. "Jeremy too, I guess. He's the one who ended up introducing me to Rosita, you know? They live together."

'Oh,' Nicole thought to herself, as she nodded her head, 'that makes sense.'

"Anyway," Waverly continued, pushing herself off the grass and reaching a hand out to pull Jeremy up as well, "we better leave you to your training. I just couldn't resist saying hi to you when you were laying there on the grass, all cute and stuff."

Nicole felt herself blush and was happy that her cheeks were already pink from the cold. 'She thinks I'm cute?' Nicole smiled at her. "Well it was nice," she said, licking her lips and letting her eyes run over Waverly's form in the tight work-out pants and her oversized hoodie. "Hopefully we'll see each other again?"

Waverly's smile could not have been bigger when she replied. "You know what, Nicole? I think we will!" She cheerily replied, before she jogged off down the path, trailing a tired-looking Jeremy with her by the arm.

Nicole watched them run until she couldn't make out Waverly's pink tights in the mass of people, and then she pulled herself off the grass, before she turned towards the entrance to the park, lazily jogging the way back home, suddenly much more optimistic about spending the rest of her Saturday studying with Calamity Jane.


	3. Chapter Three: The LGBTQIA Society

**CHAPTER THREE: THE LGBTQIA SOCIETY**

Nicole entered the unfamiliar university building, eyes scanning over the walls in the hallway, trying to figure out in which direction she was supposed to go. She had room number 337 written on the back of her hand, quickly scribbled down there earlier when she'd made her last minute decision to actually go to this meeting.

She'd been debating back and forth with herself all yesterday, trying to decide whether or not it would be a good idea to show up unannounced. Wouldn't Waverly find it weird and intrusive? But it _was_ open for everybody, and if there was any place where people would welcome you in with open arms it was the LGBTQIA Society on campus. Nicole remembered this from when she used to be a part of it, actively holding meetings and arranging demonstrations. But that was a few years ago, before Shae and everything. Before life had happened and she hadn't needed to use the place to meet cute girls.

Now though, as far as Nicole could read on the society's facebook group that she had yet to ask to be added to, Waverly was the president of the society, while Rosita seemed to be the vice-president (and all eventing) and Jeremy was in charge of their limited budget. Nicole wasn't sure why she was so nervous to just show up, all meetings were open, as Waverly had stressed multiple time on the facebook page, but it was very reluctantly that she leaned herself against the wall in the hallway, the open doorway welcoming with sounds of chatter and the smell of coffee streaming through. She took a calming breath, telling herself that it was going to be okay, that she would just go in there, say hi to Waverly and Jeremy and Rosita and take a seat and then just greet everyone else like it was no big deal and she hadn't gone over the moment inside her head at least twenty times on her way over.

'You've got this Haught,' she pushed a piece of red hair behind her ear, 'it's just another pretty girl, no big deal.' She entered the room then, carefully stepping inside, trying not to make a spectacle of herself. People were scattered all over the room, talking in clusters and drinking hot beverages, and Nicole could tell by the big clock on the wall that their meeting was right about to start.

She saw Jeremy, dressed in a black t-shirt with what looked like a Hufflepuff-scarf wrapped around his neck, handing out cups of coffee with a giant smile. She walked directly towards him, ignoring the few looks she received from the other students.

"Jeremy, hi?" She greeted him, when their eyes met and his face lit up in a giant smile. She shuffled nervously in her sneakers, tucking her hands into her back pockets and falling to the balls of her feet. Had she dressed okay for this? Suddenly she wasn't too sure about her suede cap.

"Nicole!" Jeremy cheered, awkwardly placing his cup on the table and wrapping her in a hug. Nicole was taken aback for a second; she really didn't know this guy, and Jeremy seemed to come to the same realisation as he pulled back with pink cheeks. "What are you doing here?" He wanted to know then.

Nicole reached over and poured herself some hot water, dumping a bag of tea into it. "I uh, I decided that now was probably the time to get involved in these activities again, you know?" She drew on the string of the tea bag, watching it carefully.

Nudging her with his elbow, Jeremy said, "Sure, sure, sure," as he grabbed his cup from the table and stared around the room.

Just then Waverly entered the room, not that Nicole had been scanning it to find her or anything. She had a flustered Rosita in tow; the other girl carrying several small plastic containers, while Waverly breezed towards the desk, setting her bag down and scattering her several jackets and scarfs all around her.

People greeted both she and Rosita with great familiarity; "Hi Rosie!", "Waverly, there you are!", "Rosita, hey," and "It's so great to see you, Waves," and Nicole felt her heart pummel into her stomach when she took in Waverly's appearance. She was wearing a velour skirt with pumps and pantyhose, but what really caught Nicole's breath was the bottle green coloured shirt clinging to Waverly's upper body. Damn, green looked good on her.

Waverly had the attention of everybody inside the room, and they all huddled together, finding chairs and gathering them close around the table that Jeremy must have sat up earlier. "Sorry, we're late," she blew a piece of runaway hair out of her face, "but we've got an excuse, right Rosie?" She offered Rosita a giant smile, "We spent all afternoon baking cookies!"

Rosita held out the containers for them to see, and Nicole realised that they were all filled with cookies. She pulled the lid off. "They're all vegan of course, and you better fucking like them," she cheered, passing the containers around.

"Rosita's in a mood, 'cuz I had her chopping up the nuts," Waverly explained, and a few people chuckled. "Next step before the meeting starts is names and pronouns!" Waverly said then, nodding her head and clapping her hands together. Her eyes landed on Nicole then, and the redhead swore that her eyes seemed to light up slightly, "There's some new faces, I suppose."

They went around in a circle and everybody presented their name and their pronoun, limiting possibilities of getting misgendered. Nicole sat next to Jeremy throughout the first part of the meeting; they talked about politics, something about a happening on campus and a girl inviting everybody to a queer poetry slam, but Nicole didn't say anything. She munched on her stack of cookies and drank her tea, listening to everything. An hour into the meeting, Waverly called for a break before socialising, and Jeremy moved to talk to a person across the room; a tiny human with a shaven head, round glasses and a Slytherin bowtie around their neck.

Nicole stood up when she saw Waverly making her way through the room, and she quickly brushed the crumbs off her shirt and her chin, before awkwardly adjusting her cap.

"Nicole," Waverly smiled, greeting her with a peck on the cheek, "what a nice surprise. What are you doing here?"

The redhead sheepishly shrugged her shoulders. "I thought it would be nice to hang out with some new people and stuff," she mumbled, eyes scanning over Waverly's face, trying to see if the other woman was finding it off or too forward. She saw no signs of that.

Waverly shyly tugged a piece of her hair behind her ear. It had come loose from her braid, and she looked wind-blown and cute. "Nice! As you can probably tell, I'm in charge of this uuh, club, so yeah," she shifted on her feet and let her hands fall to her sides.

"I take it you're a huge activist," Nicole replied, downing the last of her tea.

Perching her lips, Waverly nodded, "Yeah, I," she paused, "back home things weren't as easy, y'know, being bisexual. I tried getting a club started, but I ended up dating this guy all through high school, so no one really took my sexuality seriously," she paused, green eyes shimmering as they met Nicole's, "I'm uh, I'm from a very small town. Wynonna too, I guess, but she moved here a long time ago," she added, licking her upper lip.

Nicole nodded her head, listening intensely to Waverly as she spoke; it was so cute how she went on a ramble, talking to Nicole quickly, letting the words tumble over her pink lips in a rush, as if she couldn't believe that anyone was listening to her. Nicole thought it was very cute.

Waverly continued then, ranting on. "So yeah, when I started university I really wanted to get a bit more into it, do some activism and maybe try dating girls a bit more," she paused, humming, "After all, Champ and I broke up when I left, we weren't really prepared for long distance, so being single and being bi, that's me, yep!"

Eyes twinkling, Nicole couldn't hide her smile. "That sounds awesome."

Blushing Waverly diverted her eyes. "Oh sorry, I tend to ramble, just tell me to shut my mouth," she whispered, tongue peeking out to wet her lips once more.

Nicole thought that this woman was perhaps the cutest thing she had ever seen. She smiled, and she knew her dimples were on full display. "Oh, no! Don't apologise," she quickly said, scrambling to let Waverly know that she didn't mind one bit listening to her stories, "you're cute when you ramble, you know."

A tiny blush rose up Waverly's cheeks, and she reached pass Nicole to pour herself a cup of tea. Nicole caught a faint whiff of peach, and wondered if Waverly's shampoo or perfume was the cause. It smelled nice nonetheless, and Nicole closed her eyes briefly.

Rosita was standing next to them when she opened her eyes again, and she shook it off. "Nicole, hi," she said with a dismissive shake of her head. "Waves, can I make my announcement after? We want people to join us, don't we?"

Waverly's hand came to rest on Rosita's shoulder, lingering there for just a second. "Yeah! Definitely Rosie, you go on ahead."

Nodding, Rosita grabbed a cookie and stuffed it into her mouth, giving Nicole a pointed look, before she turned on her heel and and marched to the front of the room. Nicole watched her back as she went; strutting in her high-heeled pumps, pink and brown hair dangling behind her in that high ponytail she usually wore.

"Is she always so cranky?" Nicole asked Waverly then, once Rosita was out of earshot and their eyes met.

Confused, Waverly's mouth fell open. "What who? Rosita?" She questioned, green eyes turning wide. "She's not cranky, she's the sweetest!"

Nicole eyed the other woman in front of the room, nervously chewing on the inside of her cheek. She didn't know why, something about Rosita just seemed off to her – or maybe it was just the way Rosita acted around her? After all, she seemed to be very close with Waverly, and somehow Nicole doubted Waverly would hang around anybody she didn't really care for. Especially because they seemed to hang out _a lot_. The redhead watched as Rosita climbed onto the desk, kicking it in her high heels and looking absolutely gorgeous.

"Hey fucktards," she called, clapping her hands together and demanding their attention.

Waverly huffed and scurried to the front of the room. " _Rosita_!" She argued, reaching a hand up and tugging at the other woman's skirt, "Be nice, there's new people here."

Rosita shook her off with a dismissive chuckle. "Waves and I thought it would be nice to arrange a little beer-drinking and soda-drinking for ya' guys," she informed them with a giant smile. She was met with a chorus of pleased murmurs. "Sounds good, right?" She kidded, wriggling her eyebrows, "And we decided on this Friday at that queer bar down on Main, sound good? The bathrooms are gender-neutral, and they serve a variety of virgin drinks, so everybody should feel at least welcome in those… _aspects_ ," she finished.

Jeremy threw his fist into the air and whooped.

The girl on the table couldn't hide her grin when she looked at him, "So anybody interested just meet us there at eight, yeah?" She told them, before moving to jump off the table again. Before she was able to though, Waverly cleared her throat from the floor and shot her a pointed look. "Oh shit, yeah," she caught herself, grinning awkwardly at them all, "Waves wants me to tell you that it's now free play for ya' guys, which means do whatever the fuck you want and don't expect us to say shit."

Nicole swore she heard Waverly huff out another "Rosita!" As the darker skinned girl hopped off the table again. The redhead couldn't hide her smile, because she was finding Waverly cuter and cuter by each minute. She grabbed a cookie for each of her hands and slipped her way to the front of the room, where Waverly and Rosita seemed to be having a minor argument, although Nicole could clearly see that it was laced with love; Waverly's eyes were shining as they looked at Rosita, and the other woman just looked completely amused, as if this was something that happened between them often. Which Nicole was beginning to suspect that it did.

She carefully tapped Waverly on the shoulder, and the brunette turned around to look at her. Nicole liked to tell herself that Waverly's face lit up a little when she realised that it was her. "I, uh, I just wanted to say that I really wanna join you on Friday? Is that cool?" Nicole heard herself question, eyes meeting Waverly's and holding her gaze.

"Sure!" Waverly eagerly replied, nodding her head, "Definitely. It's nice that you wanna come, right Rosie, isn't it nice?"

Humming in response, Rosita seemed preoccupied with staring at Waverly's butt (which Nicole really couldn't blame her, she had quickly come to realise that it was an exceptional butt).

Waverly smacked her friend on the arm. "Stop staring at me, you weirdo," she whispered, voice laced with love.

Rosita didn't at all look like she regretted being caught staring. She sheepishly grinned. "Well, I'm sorry, but you have a good butt, Earp," she argued, raising an eyebrow challengingly.

The small brunette stuck her tongue out at her, "It's not like you haven't seen it up close or anything," she sighed, gently knocking her hip into Rosita's, a small smile playing across her lips.

"Quite a few times," Rosita replied, wriggling her eyebrows, which caused Waverly to dramatically roll her eyes.

"Go mingle," she huffed, sending Rosita off and into the room, before turning to Nicole again, "Sorry 'bout that," she breathed, awkwardly rubbing her hand against the back of her neck. "She's incorrigible."

Nicole wasn't quite sure what to make of the small banter she'd just witnessed between the two friends. Her mind told her that she shouldn't read too much into it, but then again, Waverly had just heavily implied, with no shyness whatsoever, that Rosita had seen her naked – and more than once. Otherwise Nicole really couldn't figure out why the other woman would have such familiarity with Waverly's bottom. But they weren't dating, were they? No one had implied that the two women were together, and it didn't seem like it either, not with the way they interacted.

Nicole tried not to hide her slight worry (was it even worry?) when she replied to Waverly, nervously shuffling on her feet. "'S okay," she whispered, fidgeting with her cap and trying not to seem like a total moron. "I just wanted to say hi, I guess? And uhm, I'll see you Friday then, for uh… for beer," she finished, shooting off her most self-secure smile, flashing her dimples and putting on the charm.

Waverly's eyes flickered quickly from side to side. "Yes, yes, we will, I suppose," she whispered, her voice bare audible in the small space between them.

"Cool," Nicole whispered, rubbing her arm, unsure whether or not she should attempt to hug Waverly. Would it seem weird if she did? Not everybody liked being hugged by people they barely knew. But then again, Waverly did seem like a loving, touchy-feely person. The redhead made the decision and stepped forward, wrapping her arms loosely, briefly, around Waverly's shoulders. "See you?" She breathed as she pulled back, breath ghosting over Waverly's ears, neck, chin, definitely on purpose.

Nodding her head, Waverly had a small flush of red across her cheeks. "See you, Nicole," she whispered.

Nicole turned on her heel then, wanting to get out of there before her confusion became too evident. She wasn't sure why she was this caught up in Waverly Earp, she couldn't really explain it. Sure the other girl was attractive, but Nicole had never been one to act like a complete doofus in front of women, actually quite the contrary. She'd always been kind of good with women, ever since high school when she first came out and the entire cheerleading squad had been giggling every time she walked by, flashing her dimples and running her fingers through her hair.

But Waverly Earp? Waverly Earp made her act like someone who was not herself, someone entirely different. And she didn't want that – she wanted to turn on the charm and wiggle her way into Waverly's pants, and quite probably her heart. It wasn't just that it would be amazing to get her into bed (again, Nicole could definitely tell how incredible attractive she was), but there was something else going on as well; there was as spark whenever their skin touched, and Nicole had never thought so much about someone she just wanted to sleep with – Waverly Earp was different, and Nicole was intrigued.

She was just turning down the hallway, when she heard her name being called behind her. She turned to find Jeremy running towards her then, with that person from before following his steps. If Nicole remembered correctly, the name was Taylor and the pronoun was them and they. Taylor was on a skateboard, rolling down the hallway with Jeremy by their side.

Nicole stopped and greeted the two with a smile. "Jeremy, what's up?"

He breathed out heavily, trying to catch his breath even from jogging that short distance. Nicole really started to think that running in the park with Waverly was a good idea for him and for his health. "We just wanted," he paused, huffing out air and unwrapping his Hufflepuff scarf from around his neck.

"We just wanted to ask if you wanted to walk together," Taylor exclaimed, sticking out their hand, "My name's Taylor by the way."

Nicole wrapped her hand into Taylor's, shaking it, "Nice to meet you, I'm Nicole," she replied.

"Jeremy said," Taylor nodded their head towards Jeremy, hopping off their skateboard and flipping it into their hands. "You on foot?"

"Sure thing," the redhead replied, nodding her head and looking towards Jeremy as they walked down the hallway. "So are you two… together?" She questioned, eyeing them. They'd been chummy all night, so maybe they were. From Jeremy's awkward nervousness she definitely got a feeling they were.

Wrapping an arm around Jeremy's shoulders, Taylor nodded, "Sure! We're partners, I guess. Boyfriends and girlfriends aren't really terms I care for," they added, squeezing Jeremy tight, "being non-binary and all."

Nicole nodded her head; it had been awhile since she'd done anything remotely activistic, but she did know about gender non-conformity, and it was nice to see how Waverly and Rosita had accommodated everybody and seemed so aware of everybody's needs and wants. They'd really managed to create a safe space at the meeting as far as Nicole could tell. "I'm gay," Nicole replied, not sure what else to say.

Jeremy offered Taylor a high-five, "Called it," he cheered, wiping at his forehead. Taylor left him hanging though, staring at him with amusement behind their glasses. "Sorry," he whispered, then turned his head to smile at Nicole, "Anyway, Nicole, so I think there's something you should know, seeing as you're crushing on Waverly and all."

Spluttering, Nicole came to a halt as she looked at him with wide eyes. How the fuck did he know that!? She wasn't _that_ transparent, was she? She didn't think she was. Sure, she often wore her feelings right on her sleeve, which was probably why she'd been hurt more that just once, but she had never been good at protecting herself, because when she wanted something, she just wanted it so badly. It was amazing she hadn't come on stronger regarding Waverly – but that was probably because she still couldn't read whatever it was she had with Rosita.

Friends? Ex-girlfriends? Lovers? Friends with benefits? Dating? Nicole really couldn't tell, all she knew was that it was confusing when all she wanted was to either A. Ask Waverly out on a date, or B. Have her head between Waverly's thighs.

"Calm down," Taylor chuckled, running a hand against their bare head. "No one else can tell, just Jeremy and I, we're cool like that."

Nicole sighed in relief. Somehow she doubted that Taylor and Jeremy were really considered cool anywhere, them being huge nerds with their Harry Potter merchandise and all. But they did seem like nice people, and Nicole had never cared much for the cool kids anyway. "Sure, I uh… I think she's very pretty," Nicole replied, running her tongue over her upper lip, wetting it, even though it was cold outside and it'd probably chap.

Jeremy couldn't hide his giant grin. "Waverly is more than just pretty," he replied, tugging his hands into his pockets and shuddering in the cold night. "She's the _sweetest_."

Butting in, Taylor added, "Everybody loves her, if you couldn't tell."

"But," Jeremy paused, looking up at her from beneath his beautiful and incredibly long eyelashes, "I'd probably watch out a little…" he trailed off, looking briefly at Taylor, as if he was unsure whether or not he should continue. But Taylor offered a curt nod, which splurged Jeremy on. "She's uh, she's not really looking for anything serious," he mumbled, "at all in fact."

Nicole squeezed her eyebrows together in confusion. Really? But Waverly seemed like such a relationship kind of person? That was definitely how Nicole had read her, but who knew? "Really?" She squeaked out. She tried not to hide that rush of disappointment that washed over her. It wasn't like she'd dreamt passionately about ending in a relationship with Waverly or anything; in fact, she'd mostly thought about getting her into bed, but Nicole also knew herself, and if there was a sweet girl… she'd most likely fall.

Jeremy bit his lip. "Yeah, I," he sighed, "it's kinda weird that I'm telling you this, but it's only because I think you're super cool and I'd like to be friends."

"You're super cool too, Jeremy," Nicole replied, even though she didn't really know him at all. But she liked the small smile that erupted on his face when she told him.

"Rosita and Waverly used to have sex," Taylor continued on, as they dropped their skateboard onto the ground, stepping onto it and rolling slowly next to the other two. "When they were first years, they met each other pretty quickly-"

"Through me!" Jeremy interjected.

"-and Waverly was not interested in anything, because she'd just gotten out of a relationship with that jerk-ass Champ," Taylor explained, flashing their teeth and huffing out air, "and she wanted to be single, y'know? Explore her sexuality and all that jazz."

Jeremy tucked himself even further into his jacket. "Which I was all for if it wasn't for the fact that she and Rosita hit it off immediately, and Waverly wasn't really that vocal about her wishes, and they ended up having looooots of sex," he dragged the word out, and Nicole had to tell herself to calm down. He was talking in past tense, which meant that they weren't still having sex. Which was a good thing. Especially if _she_ wanted to have sex with Waverly.

Sighing, Taylor added, "But Rosita might've gotten her feelings hurt a little bit," they explained, circling around Nicole and Jeremy on their skateboard, "They ended up calling it off, now they're friends, and it's all good, I think."

"It's all good," Jeremy added in agreement, trying to catch up to Taylor on their skateboard, even if they were so out of reach. "But yeah, it burned a lot, and I don't think Waverly's changed her view on dating quite yet. She seems… contend – being a single virgo with hair for days."

"She does have good hair," Taylor agreed.

Nicole chewed on her lower lip, falling into deep thought as they walked. They had passed the street where she was supposed to turn right a long time ago, but she didn't mind. Walking had always cleared her head, and it seemed like she might need some clearing tonight after this conversation. She wasn't sure what Jeremy and Taylor were up to though – were they simply just looking out for her (even though they didn't know her?), or did they have ulterior motives? Like maybe hoping for Rosita and Waverly to actually end up together? Nicole was confused, but one thing she did know for sure.

It wasn't like she was in love with Waverly or anything, she hardly even knew her. And she could deal with her attraction if it meant being friends with the other woman, because if there was one thing Nicole had come to realise it was that she needed queer friends, and not just Dolls and Eliza. She needed new friends, and she was intrigued by Waverly, even in a non-sexual kind of way – she just wanted to get to know her; she found her interesting, and urged to learn more about her, talk more with her.

So this wasn't scaring her off. She was going to go to that queer bar on Main on Friday, and she was going to talk to Waverly and drink beer. She was even adamant about talking more with Rosita and finding out what her deal was. She could handle her attraction, she wasn't an animal or anything.

She could be friends with Waverly if that meant she wasn't going to get hurt. Because she was just staring to mend herself after Shae, so more hurt was definitely off the table. Friends. Yeah, Nicole could do that.


	4. Chapter Four: Friends

**CHAPTER FOUR: FRIENDS**

So that friend-thing that Nicole had decided on last Monday? That was turning out to be decidedly harder than anticipated.

It had nothing to do with Nicole's own determination and opinion on the matter, but everything to do with Waverly and the way that she was dressed. She was just- Nicole bit her lip as her eyes scanned over Waverly's form for the umpteenth time that Friday night, 'She's just so fucking hot,' Nicole concluded to herself.

She might have already had a few too many beers, and Waverly was prancing around in a tight silver dress that displayed cleavage, midriff and thighs sexily; legs seeming impossibly long in high heels, even though she was so much shorter than Nicole herself, and hair straightened and loose, uncharacteristically for her as far as Nicole was aware. She just couldn't stop staring – it was impossible not to stare, and the redhead knew she wasn't the only one inside the bar who kept shooting lustful glances at the lithe brunette.

Nicole tore her eyes away from Waverly's ass, as she and Rosita made their way to the bar for another drink, and she turned her head to the side, determined to talk with some of the other students from the LGBTQIA Society, but her eyes caught Taylor's, and they gave her a saying glance as they took a sip of their beer.

Frowning, Nicole cast her eyes downward. She'd really tried to tell herself that friends was good, and that she could do that, but at the same time she was finding it decidedly difficult to control her attraction to Waverly. She'd even tried to take the edge off, in the shower, before getting ready earlier after her run; she'd used her shower head and her fingers, moaning against the bathroom wall, and it was only after she was done, when she was drying herself off in her bedroom to Calamity Jane's judging stare, that Nicole realised exactly who she'd been imagining between her legs the entire time.

Friends was definitely hard.

And she swore, she wasn't trying to be mean to Rosita or anything, but it just happened; she felt herself snap, being curt, not really wanting to talk to the other woman simply because she now knew the true nature of her relationship with Waverly. And Nicole wasn't a jealous person, actually far from – but maybe she was just really pissed that Rosita had been so close to Waverly and she herself was trying desperately to tell herself that she didn't want to experience the same thing.

Nicole tried really hard to listen and engage in a conversation that Jeremy had initiated about all of his different cacti in the apartment he shared with Rosita, but she couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when Rosita and Waverly came back to the table; Waverly was carrying a drink for each of them (it looked like a gin & tonic) and Rosita was balancing a tray filled with shot glasses containing a red, sticky, slush-icy substance.

"We've got shots for everybody!" She proclaimed, placing the tray on the table and taking a seat on the last spare chair.

Waverly sheepishly grinned at Nicole who scooted over on the bench, pressing herself as far up against Jeremy as she was comfortable with, leaving a little space for the brunette to sit at. Waverly pressed up against her body, her bare arm rubbing against Nicole's bare arm when she reached forward and grabbed two shots, pressing one of them into Nicole's hand. "Sweet and delicious," she whispered, pink lips shimmering as they wrapped around the glass and she downed it in one go.

Nicole followed suit, wincing slightly at the cold substance when it slid down her throat. It tasted good though.

"It's super awesome that you came along today," Waverly said then, green eyes travelling over Nicole's features kindly. Nicole was pretty sure that the other woman liked what she saw; it was kind of hard to keep her cool when she felt like her attraction towards Waverly wasn't just one-sided.

You'd have to be pretty blind not to acknowledge the sparks that flew between the two of them.

Nicole took a long sip of her beer, deliberately dragging out the time before she had to answer. She wasn't entirely sure what to say. Her initial desire to join the LGBTQIA Society for their night out had everything to do with Waverly and nothing to do with the rest of the students. She opted not to tell the other woman that though. "Need new friends," she murmured, wiping her hand over her lips, trying to catch a few spare droplets that had escaped.

Waverly's eyes followed a drop of beer as it trailed over Nicole's chin, and the redhead quickly wiped that off as well, her brown eyes raising to meet Waverly's green ones. The brunette grinned, "Just friends, eh?" She questioned, eyebrow raising, "Rosie told me all 'bout your ex. You don't feel ready to get back out there yet?"

The redhead's eyes landed on the brunette's lips, as she wrapped them around the straw in her drink. She sucked gently, awaiting Nicole's answer, and not for the first time that evening did Nicole get the feeling that Waverly was teasing her on purpose. She swallowed thickly. "Uhm," she breathed, mouth dry, "no?"

She had a really hard time remembering what Waverly's initial questioned had been. 'Friends,' she reminded herself, reaching blindly for her beer.

Waverly's green orbs shimmered in amusement as she continued to suck on her straw, tongue darting out to run across her lips as she sat the glass back down. This woman seemed so completely comfortable with her own sensuality, and Nicole found that very attractive. Of course the redhead knew that she, herself, wasn't by any means bad-looking, but she'd never shown her confidence in the way that Waverly was so clearly doing; flashing skin, small movements, saying looks. Nicole was confident in another way; her charm, her wit, her incredible (if Shae and other past lovers' words were true) skills in bed. Confidence took on many forms.

Knocking her elbow into Nicole's side, Rosita chose that moment to reach forward to clasp her hand over Waverly's on the table. Nicole suspected it was deliberate, and she was coming to realise that maybe her animosity towards the other woman wasn't one-sided. Rosita had seemed rather displeased with her presence all evening. She wasn't about to get into it though, she had far more interesting things to distract herself with.

"Waves, you wanna dance?" Rosita murmured, fingers caressing Waverly's hand lightly, in an almost pleading manner. Nicole could smell a whiff of her perfume as she leaned further over the table.

Waverly's lips curved into a smile. "In a minute," she whispered, eyes settling back on her drink, "take Tay and Jer and I'll come join you."

Rosita groaned, but pushed her chair back all the same. "But Jeremy can't dance!" She whined, which, fairness to Jeremy considered, Nicole actually believed. The clumsy Chemistry major didn't exactly appear to have many moves.

"But I can," Taylor butted into their conversation, wrapping an arm around Rosita's waist and pressing a kiss to her cheek, "you know I've got moves, Rosie-kins," they added, eyebrows wiggling up beneath the beanie they had chosen to wear even inside the bar. They looked handsome though; dressed in tight black pants, suspenders and a tie, complete with high heeled boots and a lot of glitter.

Jeremy manoeuvred his way around the table, almost knocking Waverly's G&T over (she caught it right before it tilted), and the three friends made their way onto the filled dance floor. Rosita cast a longing glance back at them, before she disappeared behind the other two into the crowd of writhing bodies. Nicole couldn't help the little smile present on her lips when she turned to meet Waverly's eyes once more. The brunette had chosen to stay with her.

Friends, right? Friends.

Waverly's plumb, very kissable lips, were wrapped around the straw once more, and Nicole felt her eyes fixate way too much on that fact. She cleared her throat. "You uh, you dance much?"

"I used to cheerlead," Waverly simply replied.

'Of course you did.' Nicole willed herself to immediately stop conjuring mental images of Waverly in a cheerleading uniform. "Nice," she breathed out, voice hoarse.

Chuckling, Waverly reached a hand out and gently flicked the shade of Nicole's cap, smiling devilishly at her. "I like this," she commented, her hand falling to rest on the table between them, which didn't go unnoticed by the redhead.

Which cap had she decided to wear again tonight? Oh, it was probably her simple bordeaux one that had the words 'Too gay to function' embroiled on the underside of the shade. She grinned sheepishly at the other woman, her dimples coming out to play. "Yeah? Wear a lot of caps, do you?" She teased, before she was even able to help herself. She darn well sometimes wished that flirting wasn't second nature to her.

Gasping, Waverly reached out and grabbed the cap off Nicole's head before the redhead even had time to react. The brunette placed it on her own head, with the shade in the back, and Nicole had to admit that she looked too adorable for words. "See," she pouted, but her eyes were glistening teasingly, "I can wear a cap."

Nicole ran a hand through her own hair, trying to ignore the fact that it was probably flat after hours beneath the cap. She didn't really mind, not that much, not when Waverly was looking so darn cute with her cap on. "Sure, sure," she murmured, lifting her beer to her lips, gulping it down, eyes never leaving Waverly's in the process.

Finishing her drink, Waverly placed the glass on the table and scooted off the bench. "I'ma go dance," she whispered, cheeks rosy. Her shirt had ridden up a little bit and Nicole was met with a splendid view of abs that she had no idea that Waverly was in possession of. Once more, she felt her mouth go dry, and Waverly turned on her heels, moving towards the dance floor, an extra sashay to her hips that Nicole was pretty sure was directed towards her. That ass in that dress though.

She felt her eyes go wide when Waverly stopped and turned her head around, looking at her with a daring smirk and a hand on her hip. "You comin' or what?" She questioned, eyes dark.

Nicole downed her beer and slipped off the bench, hand finding Waverly's as the other girl tugged her towards the dance floor and their friends.

Friends. Just like they were. _Friends_.

—-

Nicole's hands cupped Waverly's ass as the other woman pushed her against the wall in the tiny hallway of the bar, and their mouths worked in unison; lips pressing, caressing, and tongues prying. She could feel Waverly's hands on both side of her head, resting against the wall, as the brunette pressed up against her, her scent intoxicating Nicole as the minutes ticked by.

She was vaguely aware that people were pressing pass them, going here and there, but it wasn't an odd sight to behold, two women kissing against the wall in this particular bar. Nicole just breathed everything in, as she drew Waverly closer by her hands on the other woman's rear, pressing their hips together as they were pulled even closer. Something about being just friends soared in the back of Nicole's mind, but she wasn't entirely sure what all that had been about.

She couldn't honestly kid herself into believing this friends-matter when Waverly was so deliciously pressed against her entire body, and she had her hands full of the other woman, breaths ragged and skin hot. Waverly really smelled quite wonderfully, Nicole had to admit.

The brunette moaned softly as Nicole squeezed her closer, and then she trailed her lips away from Nicole's mouth, moving over her cheek towards her ear. Her breath tickled Nicole's sensitive earlobe as she opened her mouth to whisper in her ear. "You're so fucking hot."

Nicole felt the proclamation all the way in her pants, between her thighs, and she pressed herself further into Waverly's front, cursing the tight skirt that made it impossible to nudge her leg between the other woman's. A move she most definitely would have done right now if she'd had the room. She groaned in frustration and a ran a hand up Waverly's back instead.

Chuckling, Waverly trailed her kisses down the nape of Nicole's neck, ghosting over her collarbone and towards the edge of her breasts which were barely visible beneath the hem of her loose t-shirt. "Sorry," she breathed, as she trailed one hand away from the wall and down Nicole's side, lightly running over her hipbone, the top of her pants.

"It's a good dress," Nicole murmured, prying Waverly's face away from her collarbone, forcing their lips to meet once more, "but right now I hate it," she finished. Her tongue darted out, running over the seem of Waverly's lips, before the other woman granted her access and she took in the taste of shots, G&T and something that could only be Waverly herself. Nicole moaned into her mouth.

As Waverly's hands travelled up Nicole's stomach, running beneath her t-shirt, someone whistled from down the hall, and all of Nicole's resolve was gone. She couldn't do this, not right now, right here. Not with Waverly's fingers dancing tantalisingly over her skin, leaving goosebumps and want in their wake. Not with the way her ass had rubbed so beautifully against Nicole as they danced together, and definitely not with the way she had fought hard the entire night not to do the thing that she was pretty sure both of them wanted her to do – pull Waverly in for a kiss and finally let their lips touch.

Waverly had been so damn sexy, teasing her and dancing just a little too close to be friendly. Hands had lingered, skin had touched, and before Nicole had been able to stop herself, they were in the small, dimly lit hallway, and she was pressed up against the wall with Waverly pretty much taking control. Not that Nicole minded at all.

She was pretty sure that the other woman wasn't gonna pull them out of there though. There was just something about the way Waverly acted that Nicole just knew she wasn't going to suggest they leave. But it had been more than a month since Nicole had last had sex – with Shae – and she could feel how damp her underwear was, how the heat had coiled between her thighs, and damn did she want to take Waverly home.

Jeremy and Taylor might have said something about friends and stuff, but Nicole could honestly not remember a word of that conversation.

Her hand moved around Waverly's back, trying to pull her even closer, but it was in vain; there simply was not anymore space between them unless they wanted to shed their clothing. And as much as Nicole wanted to have the other woman naked, here was really not the place. She groaned and pulled at Waverly's hair, placing her lips against Waverly's neck and running her teeth over the sweaty skin there.

Waverly moaned loudly, her fingers curling into Nicole's side.

"Home," the redhead breathed then, pushing Waverly off of her and grabbing her hand resolutely. She squeezed her fingers and turned to the other woman with questions in her eyes, just to make sure that they were both definitely on board. "Mine or yours?"

Waverly's eyes were clouded with lust as her tongue darted out to wet her parched lips. "Yours," she breathed deeply, before she stepped pass Nicole and onto the dance floor, taking the lead.

She was still fucking wearing Nicole's cap.

—

Nicole woke up the next morning to light snoring and a mass of brown hair tickling her nose. For a second, she was confused about what was going on, but then she remembered. She remembered _vividly_.

Waverly Earp was laying in her bed, snoring, sleeping peacefully, entirely naked, buried beneath a mountain of blankets. And from the looks of it, she was drooling a little bit as well. Nicole bit her lip to stop herself from grinning aloud. Her own arm was slung over Waverly's side, resting across her abdomen, and from what the redhead could tell, she'd been the big spoon for most of the night. Not that she minded. Waverly's ass was pressed against her front, and it was absolutely delicious.

As it had been last night. Nicole wasn't really sure exactly what had happened at that club, and she was trying to recall how they ended up in her bed. All she was certain of was that there had been heavy flirting all night and she hadn't been able to stop herself.

She buried her nose into Waverly's hair, breathing in the smell of her, as she tightened her hold on the smaller woman. She could seriously get used to this. It felt as if Waverly's body had been made to fit exactly against hers, like two pieces of a human puzzle. Her and Shae had been more the same height, but this, this felt amazing, cuddling around the other woman like this. Not that she knew exactly what was going to happen now, not after last night, but they seemed to have passed friends a few kisses ago.

Waverly murmured lowly when Nicole snuggled her nose against her neck, and the redhead couldn't help herself; she ran her hands over the other woman's body, pushing the blankets aside, touching her breasts, dipping over her navel and then running over her thighs. The brunette led out a deep exhale, and Nicole knew that she was half awake, and she pressed herself closer to the other woman.

There was another murmur. "Mornin'."

Nicole felt herself smile, shushing Waverly as she pressed small kisses to her shoulder and back. She could feel her heart beat stronger against her chest when she ran her hand out over Waverly's hipbone only to run it teasingly across the curly hairs between her legs. There was a sharp intake of breath, and Nicole pressed her knee between Waverly's legs, nudging them open from behind, as she moved her fingers through the brunette curls.

She pumped in and out of Waverly slowly, lazily rubbing her palm against the other woman's clit, while she listened carefully to the small moans of appreciation that were ghosting across Waverly's pink and kiss-swollen lips. She felt the other woman's ass rub tantalisingly against her own naked centre, and even though this was because she couldn't stop herself from touching the other woman, it felt amazing to have her there, so close.

As Waverly reached her orgasm, she breathed out Nicole's name throatily. Her entire body stiffened, arching forward as the redhead tried to hold her in place, and when she came down down, Nicole ran her fingers back over her stomach, pressing kisses to her back.

"You're seriously beautiful when you come," she whispered, and she could see how her cold breath left goosebumps across Waverly's skin.

The brunette chuckled slightly, turning over in the bed so that they were nose to nose. "You're spectacularly good at that, did you know?"

Nicole tried to not look so smug (because yes, she did know), but her dimples betrayed her. "Yeah," she throatily whispered, leaning slightly forward to press her lips against Waverly's briefly. Morning breath and all that.

"You live here on your own?" Waverly questioned then, raising herself onto her elbow to stare around the tiny bedroom. Nicole hadn't had much of chance to show her around last night.

The redhead sat up too, fumbling for her glasses on the nightstand. "Yeah, I mean," she paused, finding them and pushing them onto her nose, "no."

With a raised eyebrow, Waverly looked at her in amusement, prodding her on.

"CJ lives here too," Nicole mumbled, and she stumbled out of bed then, ignoring the way she was entirely naked as she crossed the room to open the door into the rest of the apartment. She knew her cat would be pissed about the closed door; she always used to be when Shae stayed over. And Nicole was right, because the second the door was the slightest bit open, the red tabby had rushed into the room and jumped onto the bed with a giant meow.

Calamity Jane and Waverly stared at each other then; the brunette looked absolutely thrilled to have a cat in front of her, but the cat was looking at the new houseguest in disdain, eyes giant and round as it decided whether to like her or not. Finally, Calamity Jane let out another long meow.

"Oh my god, you're so cute," Waverly mused as she reached out and rubbed her fingers across the cat's fur. "Aren't you a little cutie-pie?" She questioned, lowering her voice.

Calamity Jane started purring and Nicole fell onto the bed as well, pulling the blankets to cover at least her bottom half. "'S Calamity Jane," she explained, scratching her cat on the nose.

"What kind is she?" Waverly eagerly asked, turning to Nicole with excitement in her eyes.

The redhead stared at the other woman with amusement. No one had ever asked her what kind CJ was – no one had ever minded or wanted to know. She was a Maine Coon, of course, but she was also just CJ. "She's uh… red?" Nicole settled for, not wanting to get too much into it.

Waverly gathered the cat in her arms with very little objection and pressed it against her naked chest. Nicole had to admit that it was slightly distracting how cute the other woman was with her cat – it was like Waverly couldn't get anymore perfect, but then she went ahead and did this? Nicole pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "Do you uh," she cleared her throat, feeling parched after last night's drinking and other… activities, "do you want coffee?"

Glancing around the room, Waverly's eyes landed on the giant clock on the wall, scrunching her nose up in confusion. "I should actually get going," she explained, shooting Nicole a strained smile. The redhead wasn't sure what it was, but suddenly she felt something in the mood shift. "I uh, I have a thing with Wynonna," she added, dropping CJ onto the mattress and pushing the covers aside.

Nicole didn't care much for the way Waverly suddenly hurried out of the warm and comfortable bed to find her clothing on the floor of the bedroom. It had all been strewn and tossed aside last night, before Nicole had descended between her legs, running her tongue across Waverly's impossibly wet folds. She clutched one of the blankets closer to herself. "Oh," was all she managed to get across her lips as Waverly pulled on her underwear and moved to clasp her bra.

"Yeah, we uh," Waverly shrugged, turning her shirt over as it was inside out, "we have this Saturday tradition at the house, eating breakfast together and stuff. I probably need to wake her when I get home."

Nicole then realised that she didn't even know where Waverly lived, but it sounded like she might live with Wynonna. "That's… cool," she whispered, running her tongue across her lips, "My family's far away, so it must be nice for you to have her close by."

Waverly nodded, stepping into her skirt as well. She pushed her hair away from her face, clearly annoyed by the fact that it was all in the way. It had started to curl a little as well, after a night rumpled in the sheets, and Nicole thought that she'd never seen the other woman look more beautiful than what she did right now; just awoken after a night in her bed. "Do you have a scrunchie I can borrow?" Waverly wanted to know then.

Nicole reached to her nightstand, pushing pass old contact cases and papers and books to find a scrunchie. She held it out for Waverly between two fingers, daring the other woman to come closer. "Here."

Waverly stepped forward then, grabbing the scrunchie into her hand. "Thanks," she whispered, but as she moved to pull back, Nicole grabbed her hand and pulled her closer. She pressed their lips together, and she felt Waverly kiss her back gently, almost too gently after what had transpired between them last night, and the redhead felt her heartbeat quicken when the other woman pulled back.

"So," she said, watching as Waverly pulled her long hair into a loose bun at the top of her head, "Do you wanna get together this week?" She questioned, eyeing the other girl appreciatively. She couldn't really read the situation and it was frustrating her. She could just sense that there was something off about the other woman.

Sighing, Waverly sat down on the edge of the bed, putting some space between the two of them. "Listen. Nicole," she begun, and Nicole felt her insides freeze. She was not prepared for what was going to come out of Waverly's mouth next, she was sure of it. She'd heard that 'listen' before, she knew what that 'listen' meant. She didn't want that 'listen' to come over Waverly's sweet, pink lips. Pink lips that just hours before had been wrapped around Nicole's nipple as the brunette fingered her to an amazing orgasm.

She closed her eyes, bracing herself for the blow.

"Thank you so much for last night," Waverly said then, her green eyes wavering as they finally moved to meet Nicole's brown ones, "it was, it was really great. Really nice," she murmured, "and I just wanted to make sure that we're on the same page, and…" she paused, tongue darting out to lick her lips, "that this is what it is."

Nicole could feel a sense of dread come crawling up the back of her spine.

"It was fun, right?" Waverly continued, eyes drifting nervously over Nicole's features. Obviously she was waiting for the redhead's confirmation.

Nodding, Nicole forced the words out of her mouth. "Yeah," she croaked.

The brunette looked relieved for just a second. "Yeah?" She confirmed, before hastily continuing her speech; not that Nicole wouldn't rather she didn't. "But I'm just…" she trailed off, "I'm just not really looking for anything serious right now," she whispered, green orbs shimmering as she tried to convey the seriousness to Nicole. "I mean, I uh, I really don't have time actually, with my studies and the clubs and Wynonna, and…"

Nicole cast her gaze down, not wanting to look at the other woman. She couldn't explain why, but this 'listen' felt a lot worse than any other 'listen' she'd ever been on the receiving end of. Why was Waverly telling her to listen? Hadn't she been there last night? Hadn't she, too, experienced the ridiculous amount of chemistry between them? A chemistry Nicole had never even come close to with any of her past lovers.

"I really just don't have time to date actually," Waverly added softly, and there was apologies written across her beautiful face. "I really like you, Nicole, and I really wanna be friends with you!"

The redhead clenched her jaw. Sure, friends. That's what Jeremy and Taylor had said too. Just friends. "But why did you sleep with me then?" She heard herself question. She could sense that she came off as bitter, and she didn't quite like that part about herself, but she couldn't help it.

Waverly flinched slightly. "You kissed me."

Sure, that was true. Nicole had been the one to initiate the first kiss, but it had been pretty clear that Waverly wanted it just as much as she did. She'd done nothing but flirt with Nicole all night, and she definitely had not said no when Nicole had pressed their lips together on the dance floor. "Sure, okay Waverly," she replied, glancing at the wall.

Reaching a hand out to clasp over Nicole's, Waverly continued. "I do wanna be friends," she added, dryly, "And uh, it's not that I wouldn't wanna do … _this_ … again," she motioned between them when Nicole turned her head to look at her, "because let's face it, that was quite amazing," she grinned, eyes shining, "but in my experience… friends with benefits rarely end up well, and uh, I don't want you to get hurt."

Nicole wanted to object; wanted to question her why she just assumed that Nicole would be the one getting hurt, but she also knew that Waverly was probably right, so what was the point even? They could be friends, sure, but the benefits part would definitely not end well.

"Or we can continue to do this," Waverly proposed, straightening her back and daring Nicole to say something. "If so, we just can't really hang out otherwise."

The redhead opened her mouth, and the word spilled out of her before she even had time to contemplate it, "No," she piped. She definitely didn't want to not hang out with Waverly in any capacity. Sure, the sex was amazing, and it was a damn shame that she wouldn't be able to touch Waverly again, but she needed to be friends with her. She couldn't not spend time with her. It was out of the question. She cleared her throat, "Friends, friends is good," she whispered.

Waverly's shoulders slumped and she looked so relieved. "Yeah?" She questioned, and she looked so innocent that Nicole just wanted to wrap her arms around her and hug her close. 'But she just really doesn't deserve that right now, does she?' No, no she really didn't.

Nodding, Nicole brushed a piece of her read hair out of her eyes and forced a smile to the other woman. She could do this, she could so totally do this. _Friends_. "You uh, you can just find your way out of here, okay? I'll try to get some more sleep with Calamity Jane," she replied, eyes landing on the ginger cat that had snuggled up in Waverly's abandoned blanket.

A flicker of something else ran across Waverly's face, but the brunette stood up nonetheless and reached for her heels – the heels she'd kicked off last night before rushing to open Nicole's belt – by the door. She tugged them on, hand on the doorknob. "I'll uh, I'll see you around then?" She questioned, and she sounded almost hopeful.

"Sure," Nicole murmured, rolling onto her her side and tugging Calamity Jane into her stomach so they could lie close and snuggle. She couldn't bare to look at Waverly as the other woman left the room. She could hear how she swept through the small apartment, gathering her purse and jacket from the floor on the way. She held her breath, listening as the front door closed behind the brunette with a smack.

'Friends,' Nicole thought, as she bid back tears, determined not to cry and not be upset. She couldn't even explain why she was so affected by all of this. She'd just known the other woman for one week, it wasn't like their lives were intertwined or anything. She could simply just not see her again if that was what she wanted. "She wants to be just friends, CJ," she whispered, pressing a kiss to the cat's head.

Nicole couldn't help but think it was a little bit too late for just friends.


	5. Chapter Five: Shortys Quiz Night

**CHAPTER FIVE: SHORTY'S WEDNESDAY QUIZ NIGHT**

So apparently Wednesday nights were quiz nights at Shorty's. Nicole had learned that the day before when Dolls had texted her to join him and Eliza as a team at the bar. He was going anyway, he'd said, and he'd rather have her on his team as well, so it wasn't just Eliza. Especially because Eliza had a tendency to answer the questions before she had time to confer with the rest of her team. And usually she'd answer them incorrectly.

Nicole remembered an incident with a few of their course-mates at a Friday get-together a few years back. Eliza had flipped over a table when her team lost. That was partly why none of the other students dared to get close to the three friends.

Anyway. Dolls was quite smart, Eliza too when she wanted to be. And Nicole had won her fair share of Trivial Pursuit games on family night when she still lived at home.

So she slipped into Shorty's that Wednesday night just a quarter to seven, immediately scanning the space to see if she could spot a familiar head of brunette hair. Brunette hair that had been sprawled across her pillow just last weekend. Not that Nicole had thought much about it, because she had tried really hard not to.

Waverly wasn't at Shorty's as far as Nicole could tell. Only Rosita was behind the bar, and she gave Nicole a tentative wave when the redhead stepped inside. She was drying off a glass with a dish towel, and her hair was falling around her shoulders as she for once was not spotting her usual pony tail.

"Nicole," Rosita greeted her, dropping the glass and the towel to fetch her a beer. "Come for quiz night, have you?"

Nodding, Nicole immediately took a sip of the bottle. She hadn't been aware how much she was looking forward to a beer, but now that the bottle was at her lips, it felt damn great. "I'm teaming up with Dolls and Shapiro. Are they here yet?" She questioned, glancing around the room, trying to see if she could locate her friends. She didn't see them anywhere; she could only spot Wynonna, the unruly brown curls a non-mistakingly trait of the other woman. She was getting things ready at the small make-shift stage, talking quietly with an older-looking man who was spotting a moustache and a cowboy hat. Something Nicole thought was a little odd, even in this western-style bar.

"That's Doc," Rosita explained, probably sensing where Nicole's eyes had drifted. "He's the owner of the bar along with the Earps."

Nicole turned around on the stool again, shooting the other woman a questionable look. "Doc?"

Rosita nodded, "Yeah, he used to be a doctor, quite successful actually, but eh," she shrugged, eyes moving momentarily towards the pair at the small stage, "something happened and he didn't want to do it anymore. Ended up here with Shorty," she explained, and suddenly the name of the bar made sense to the redhead, even if she had no idea who Shorty was, "When Shorty died, Waverly and Wynonna inherited his part - and here we are," she finished.

"Here we are indeed," Nicole murmured in agreement.

Rosita ran the dish towel over the counter of the bar, biting her lip, clearly contemplating something. Nicole could tell without a doubt that there was something on the other woman's mind, and she could probably guess what it was about, but she wasn't going to say anything, not unless Rosita asked her. The brunette eventually dropped the towel beneath the counter with a heavy sigh and leaned herself against the bar, chin resting in her hands. "Waves is in control of the quiz, you know," she finally said.

Nicole wetted her lips with the tip of her tongue. She'd thought that she'd probably run into Waverly today. It seemed like she was at Shorty's a lot, which made perfectly sense to be honest. She did own part of the bar after all. She just wasn't sure if she was ready to face the brunette again. She didn't want things to be awkward, and she didn't want to be reminded of the feelings she'd had to deal with all Saturday when she was cuddling in bed with Calamity Jane. She'd dealt with them, sure, and she'd decided that she could be friends with Waverly. However, that didn't mean it wasn't going to be a little bit awkward this first time.

"Did you guys sleep together?" Rosita prodded on. Her brown eyes were wavering slightly, and there was a hint of something in her voice; curiosity maybe, hurt, disappointment, even defiance? Nicole wasn't sure. But when she locked her eyes to Rosita's she was met with a truly heartfelt look; something that told her that Rosita knew exactly what she was going through at the moment.

Nicole took a sip of her beer. "Yeah."

Rosita's eyes shimmered. And now Nicole was certain; she saw hurt in there. "So what? Are you guys a thing now? Waverly wouldn't tell me anything," she added, when she saw Nicole's questioning look.

"Nope," Nicole replied, popping the 'p' and raising the bottle to her lips once more. She took a long gulp of it, fully aware that Rosita was waiting for her to answer. She took her sweet time though, gulping it down, before placing the bottle on the counter and swallowing loudly. "She uh, she just wants to be friends," she finished, casting her eyes to the counter, suddenly very interested in the lines she could make out in the wood.

She was surprised when she felt Rosita's warm hand come to rest upon her own. "I'm sorry, Nicole," she replied, and Nicole genuinely believed that she was. "It's probably the last thing you need after Shae, right?"

To be honest, Nicole had hardly given Shae any thought since meeting Waverly. Her mind had been entirely too preoccupied by thoughts of the youngest Earp, it was almost scary. Maybe that meant she was completely over Shae though, which was also nice. "It was stupid," she said, eyes meeting Rosita's, "Taylor and Jeremy warned me not to go there, so," she stopped herself, straightening her back.

Offering her a supportive smile, Rosita sighed. "Yeah, I get it," she shrugged, pushing a strand of brown hair out of her face. "She's… hard to resist. She's just, you know, a sweetheart."

Nicole nodded her head. She didn't know how else to explain it. There was just something about Waverly Earp, and apparently Rosita had the same troubles as her regarding the lithe brunette. It wasn't just that Waverly was incredibly beautiful, and quite fantastic in the bedroom, she was just also - so, so sweet. There were no other words to explain it.

Nicole was pulled out of her thoughts by Wynonna extending orders from the other end of the room. "Bustillos, fix the damn snacks, quiz night is soon," she snapped, and Rosita visibly groaned but moved to follow orders. "And Red," Wynonna added, waving at her, "come here for a sec, will you?"

Slipping off the barstool, Nicole grabbed her beer and weaved through the round tables to get to Wynonna and Doc. She hadn't noticed when she and Rosita were talking, but the place had started to fill up; small clusters of friends gathering around the different tables to form their teams. She saw that Taylor and Jeremy were sitting at a round table near the back, and they both waved eagerly when their eyes met. She waved back, before placing her beer at the small stage, looking expectantly at Wynonna.

"This is Doc," Wynonna explained, referring to the man next to her.

He looked up from where he was trying to fix a few cables and a microphone. Nicole wasn't an expert on technology, but something didn't look right. "Obliged to make your acquaintance," he said, sticking out his hand for her to shake, and Nicole was surprised by the southern drawl in his voice. "Name's John Henry, but everyone just calls me Doc."

"Nicole Haught," Nicole replied, dropping his hand and nodding towards the microphone. "You need some help with this?"

"Shit's not working," Wynonna replied, absently checking the clock on the wall, "aaaand quiz night is 'bout to start," she glanced around the room then, before turning to Nicole. "You've seen Waves? You hang, right?"

Nicole shook her head and kneeled down to help fix the technology, while Wynonna turned to discuss something else with Doc. Nicole's eyes scanned over everything; following cables and wires, as she pondered what didn't look right. She quickly found the mishap though; Doc had managed to connect two wires the wrong way, and that's why the sound didn't come out right. She quickly redid the settings, and immediately a loud screech sounded over the speakers and Nicole jumped away form the output.

"Whoa, that was loud!"

Nicole's eyes darted to the side, and she was met with the green eyes that belonged to none other than Waverly Earp. She'd contemplated all day what she was going to say, going to do, how she was going to react, when she finally saw the other woman again, but apparently she couldn't have prepared herself at all. She was completely taken aback by the windblown, rosy-cheeked brunette, who dropped her giant school bag on the floor next to Nicole's beer. She looked beautiful, and Nicole hated that that was her first thought. She shouldn't be reacting this way, and she was very much aware of that. She couldn't help it though, the one thing she could do however, was not let Waverly show what kind of affect she had on her.

"I uhm," she grabbed her beer, slightly annoyed that now Wynonna and Doc were nowhere in sight. 'Where had they gone off to?' She swallowed loudly. "I fixed the sound for you."

Waverly's smile was genuine when she looked into Nicole's eyes. "Thank you," she said, pushing a stray curl out of her eyes, before slipping out of her coat. "How have you been?" She questioned then, as she bent down to find her notes in her bag. "You weren't at the meeting on Monday," she added, looking up at Nicole through her long lashes.

Nicole took a gulp of her beer. "I had to write a paper," she replied, shrugging. It wasn't a lie, she did spend Monday night writing a paper, Waverly just didn't need to know that the paper wasn't due for another week or so.

"Phew," the other girl exclaimed as she stood up, "for a minute I was afraid that you were avoiding me."

Nicole really wanted to say something to her; to tell her that she was avoiding her, that Waverly deserved it if she did avoid her. She just… couldn't get herself to wipe that smile off the other woman's face. She didn't want to be the cause of that. And she knew it was fucked, because Waverly had been the reason that she had a hard time coming out of bed on Saturday, but she couldn't help herself. Waverly hadn't promised her anything before they jumped into bed together, and she'd been completely honest the next day. She hadn't strung Nicole along, promised her something she couldn't keep. Nicole would just have to get over it; find someone else to crush on and get going with her life.

Yeah, that sounded about right.

"I, I wouldn't," Nicole whispered then, and she probably sounded way more love-struck than she wanted to. She bit her lip. "Anyway, I gotta grab a table," she finished, before she turned on her heel and went straight for a spare table next to Taylor and Jeremy's. Rosita had arranged snacks on all the tables, and she was serving bottles of beer over the bar, welcoming all the quizzers to yet another quiz night at Shorty's. Nicole sat down at the table and grabbed a handful of peanuts.

"You on your own today?" Taylor questioned then, leaning over the table to look at Nicole. "You can, you know, join us?"

Nicole shook her head, "I have a team," she replied, thankful for the suggestion though, "They're just running late, as usual," she added, smirking when she thought of Eliza and the other woman's never ending fashion crises. Dolls was a champ for putting up with it all the time, Nicole could never do that.

Jeremy was sipping a coke, and he was looking absolutely adorable in a Iron Man t-shirt with a vest over It. "We team up with Rosie, she helps us when she can," he explained.

"What's the quiz usually about?" Nicole asked then, as her eyes wavered to where Waverly was setting up near the microphone. She wasn't aware of the rules of the pub quiz, but it seemed like Waverly was in charge of pretty much everything regarding the quiz. She hated that she was so aware of what Waverly was doing in the room; there were plenty of other people in the bar, quiz night appeared to draw a regular crowd, and they were all chatting happily away. Why couldn't Nicole just be tuned in on one of the other girls here? There were plenty cutes ones for sure.

Taylor shrugged. They appeared to be drinking soda as well, staying off the alcohol. Nicole probably shouldn't drink too many beers either, it wasn't a good idea for her to go down that road throughout the week. She needed to focus on her training and her studies. "Different categories usually, sometimes Waves make special quizzes. She had one for Rosie's birthday, it was really only fun for the people who knows Rosita," Taylor laughed, pushing their round glasses up the bridge of their nose.

"I did win by a shitload though," Rosita butted in, claiming a spare chair and reaching for a handful of peanuts. "Who knows more about me than… me?"

Nicole couldn't stop herself from laughing aloud; she could just imagine Rosita winning a quiz on herself. But of course she would! She grabbed another handful of peanuts, just as Dolls and Eliza slipped into the bar and quickly located Nicole at her table. She stood up to greet both her friends, hugging Eliza tightly and sharing a fist-bump with Dolls. She'd missed them. She'd hardly spent any time with them outside of class this week, but that was their relationship most days anyway.

"Haught-shit!" Eliza cheered as she grabbed a chair and took a seat, "You look particularly gay today," she added, flicking the shade of Nicole's cap.

Sticking her tongue out a her, Nicole replied back with a challenge. "And you look particularly bitchy today, but who am I to judge?" She motioned towards her three new friends at the other table, "You guys know Rosita, but this is Jeremy and Taylor."

"Hey," Dolls nodded as he took a seat, absent-mindedly scanning the room. He was looking for Wynonna, Nicole was sure of it.

"Wassup," Taylor greeted, flashing them a set of pearly whites.

Wynonna slipped into the last spare seat at the table, hitting Dolls with a closed fist on the upper arm. "Where the fuck have you been at?" She demanded to know, and her blue eyers were practically shooting lightenings.

"Busy," Dolls just replied, before he raised a finger to his lips to shush her. The volume of the music had been lowered and Waverly was smiling brightly at them all from the stage.

"Hi everybody!" She cheered, and she looked so happy; like a little kid on Christmas morning. "And welcome to Shorty's Wednesday Quiz Night!"

There was applause, and Rosita placed two fingers in her mouth to whistle. Nicole felt herself whoop loudly and she swore Waverly's smile grew even bigger at the sound. It was clear that Shorty's Wednesday Quiz Night was a popular event, and it seemed like Waverly was even more popular with the regulars. They definitely acted like it.

Nicole tuned out a bit as Waverly explained the rules of the quiz, and soon the game had started. Nicole's team did their best to answer all of the questions right, but Wynonna and Eliza got into an argument at practically every single one, and Dolls was just looking on slightly amused, trying to understand two of the women in his life. Nicole didn't want to tease him, but he looked so smitten with Wynonna; his usually hard exterior cracked with a soft smile and a shimmer in his eye. She was pretty sure that Eliza was arguing against everything Wynonna said just to mess with him – or perhaps to mess with Wynonna, Nicole couldn't quite tell.

Feeling her phone vibrate in her pocket, Nicole moved to turn it off, but decided otherwise when she saw whose name was flashing across her screen. She pushed her chair back, sliding the phone to answer. "Hold on a sec," she murmured into the receiver while she moved towards the door. She swore she felt Waverly's eyes follow her through the room; she could feel the prickling on her skin. She slipped outside, shutting the buzz of quiz night behind her, as she lifted the phone to answer the call from her mother – even though it was probably not her, becausee Nicole was pretty sure that it was her seven-year-old brother.

"Neville," she whispered, and she felt a smile overtake her face on its own accord, just at the mere thought of his sweet, chubby face. He was an afterthought, almost 20 years younger than her, and their parents spoiled him rotten.

He squealed into the phone, and Nicole had to put a great distance between it and her ear. "Nicki," he yelled, dragging out the 'i' and laughing uncontrollably. "I miss you!"

She laughed, "I miss you too, Nev," she replied, leaning her back against the wall and closing her eyes briefly. She hadn't grabbed her jacket on the way out, but the cold air was refreshing on her face. "What are you up to? It's Wednesday, isn't everybody there for dinner?" She questioned.

"Mh," he hummed into the phone, and she could just imagine him, sitting on the couch with his favourite teddy bear, one that she had given him before she moved away from home to go to the big city to study. "Nate's here with his girlfriend, Nadine's here too. Everybody's here, 'cept you!"

"I'm sorry, kiddo," Nicole sighed. She wasn't going to pretend that she didn't miss her family and hated being away from them. It just really hadn't been an option to stay in the middle of nowhere where she grew up, not being an out and very proud lesbian. Her family might have accepted her instantly and without question, but everybody else in that place was small-minded and stupid. Nicole hadn't been able to get out of there fast enough, even if it meant leaving everyone behind.

She hated that she wasn't closer to Neville, who was growing up so fast. She hated that she couldn't see her parents more often; they seemed older and older every time she went to visit, and she spent way too much time worrying about her father's bad heart. It sucked not being closer to her sister's kids; she had two already, eight-year-old Molly and five-year-old Peter. And Nicole had never even met her brother's newest girlfriend, someone who – according to Neville's very reliable intel – their mother found perfect for Nathaniel.

"We had lasagne for dinner!" Nicole suddenly heard Molly screech into the phone.

Neville shushed her, "I'm talking to, Nicki," he objected.

Molly argued back, "I wanna talk to her, too!"

"She's _my_ sister," Neville replied, and Nicole could hear them fighting over the phone.

"Well, she's _my_ aunt," Molly hissed with determination.

"Mine too," Peter butted in, and there was some hustling on the other end again.

Nicole had to bite her lip to stop herself from laughing, because to the kids this was probably very serious and not funny at all, but she couldn't help but find it slightly amusing. "Guys," she chuckled into the phone, "guys, I can talk to all of you, OK?"

"Oh my _God_ , stop fighting!" Nadine's voice suddenly broke through on the line, and Nicole could hear her demand the phone away from her daughter, who apparently had managed to snatch it from Neville. "God, it's just _Nicole_ ," she teased, well aware that Nicole could hear everything. There was a sigh. "Hi stupid," she said then, into the receiver.

"Hi Nadine," Nicole sighed, staring into the dark night; the stars were out today, shining brightly, and there were hardly any clouds in the sky. It was quite beautiful.

Nadine hummed, "I can't believe they're fighting over you," she proclaimed, and Nicole could hear her walking around. She could just picture it; she was walking from the living room in their childhood home and into the kitchen where her father and Nathaniel were probably cleaning up after dinner while drinking beer. "If you were actually here more often they would see just what a drag you really are," she finished.

Nicole huffed, "Hey, I'm the cool one, OK? I play ball with them, I gave them the good stuff for Christmas, it's not my fault you're responsible and boring adults."

Her sister laughed. "Sure thing, Nicki," she replied, and she sat down with a sigh, "Mom wants to know how you're doing," she paused, "you know... after Shae and everything?"

It wasn't that her parents had absolutely loved Shae or anything; they'd hardly spent much time with her. The brunette woman's studies had always been so demanding that she'd never had time to go with Nicole to visit her family. But they had absolutely loved how she had made Nicole so, so happy. Nicole smiled into the receiver; her sister had been so good at taking care of her throughout this break-up, even from long-distance. She'd taken time out of her busy life with work, two kids and a husband to facetime Nicole whenever she needed it. She was pretty sure it wasn't just their mother who wanted to know how Nicole was doing. "I'm," she paused, contemplating her next words carefully, not wanting to lie to her sister. But then she realised, for the first time, that she didn't actually have to, "I'm good."

Nadine's voice peeked up at that. "You are?"

"Mh," Nicole hummed, pushing herself away from the wall and running a hand down the bricks, "I am actually, I'm... I'm much better," she finished, smiling happily to herself as the words came across her lips. She was finally telling the truth when she said those words and it felt damn good.

"Alright," Nadine trailed off, her voice running low, "what's her name, Nicki?"

Nicole paused. "What?"

"Her _name_ , Nicole," Nadine prodded on, sounding impatient, "There must be a girl, because you sound like it."

Waverly's face flashed before Nicole's eyelids when she closed them, leaning her forehead against the wall, her cap shifting awkwardly on her head. She hadn't meant to sound like that, sound like she was happy because she was crushing on someone. But she'd forgotten that Nadine knew her better than anyone else. If she'd been speaking to Nathaniel, she could have probably fooled him. "There's no girl, Nadine."

"Aha," she whispered.

"I'm just getting involved in some clubs again," Nicole rushed to explain herself. Her sister didn't need to know the reason that she initially started involving herself in said clubs. "Like, the LGBTQIA Society on campus. It's nice, meeting new people and stuff," she finished.

Nadine didn't sound entirely convinced, but it appeared that she'd let it slide this once. "Cool. Doing activism then?"

"Not yet," Nicole replied, just as the door to Shorty's was pushed open, and she saw Waverly peek her head outside, curiously staring down the street. A smile cracked on her face when she saw Nicole, and she stepped outside, letting the door smack behind her, just as Nicole offered her a strained smile.

"What are you doing?" She questioned, wrapping her arms around her midsection in her silk kimono, trying to shield herself from the cold.

Nadine's voice broke through the phone, "Nicki, who's that?"

"No one," Nicole told her sister, trying to ignore the wounded look that briefly passed over Waverly's face. "Hey sis, I've gotta go, OK? I'm at a quiz night at this bar, and I have to get back to my team," she explained, her eyes trained on a patch of grass that had broken through the asphalted sidewalk. She couldn't stand to look at Waverly right now.

There was another sigh on the other end of the phone. "Alright baby sis," she replied, "Dad says to call him soon, and I'm happy to hear that you're making new friends," she whispered. "I love you loads, OK?"

Nicole smiled, "Love you loads," she replied back, before ending the call and stuffing her phone into her back pocket. She fiddled with a loose thread on her t-shirt for a second, trying to get her bearings, before she finally lifted her gaze, only to find Waverly looking expectantly at her. "Aren't you quizzing?"

Waverly tentatively took a step closer. "Wynonna she uh," she licked her lips, "she took over. I needed a break," she explained, a soft smile finding its way onto her lips. "Besides, I wanted to see where you went to."

The redhead shrugged. "Got a phone call."

Nodding, Waverly leaned herself against the wall, "Your sister?"

Nicole mirrored her position, letting her right shoulder rest against the brick wall just mere inches from Waverly's left shoulder. "Yeah," she hoarsely replied.

"Do you have many siblings?" Waverly wondered aloud, strands of brown hair moving gently in the light breeze. Nicole couldn't help but think that she looked particularly beautiful in the faint light on this evening. Even if she shouldn't think so.

The redhead nodded. "Yeah, I've got three. Nadine and Nathaniel," she paused, "and then Neville, but he's only seven."

Waverly turned her face to look at her, and her green eyes shone. "Wynonna and I had another sister," she said then, and her voice was barely above a whisper.

Nicole heard the past tense and frowned slightly. She didn't know that. But then again, she hardly knew anything about Waverly. Even if they had slept together. "Had?" She heard herself question, because what else could she say?

"Her name was Willa and she was the oldest," Waverly whispered, locking her eyes to Nicole's. "I don't remember her much, she uh, she got taken when I was only six, so..." She stared straight ahead then, and there were frown-lines across her beautiful face. "Wynonna was 12, she remembers her better."

"Taken?" Nicole questioned. She knew what it probably meant, because it happened to way too many kinds in the United States and Canada every year, but that didn't make it any less horrible. She could feel her heart ache for Waverly and Wynonna; for their parents too, because no parent should ever experience that sort of pain.

Waverly nodded. "They've never found her or her…" she trailed off, swallowing loudly, "her body," she leaned her head back against the wall and closed her eyes. "They found her bloody nightgown. The entire town was looking, but no one could find any trace of what happened to Willa Earp," she finished.

Nicole could see the pain on Waverly's face; it was evident and strong. Nicole couldn't imagine what it must feel like; if it had been one of her siblings she didn't know what she would have done. Probably gone crazy with worry and done everything in her might to find them herself. "Waverly, I'm so sorry," was all she could muster to say.

There was a lonely tear trailing down one of Waverly's cheeks, and she raised her hand to brush it off. "Yeah," she said.

"What about your parents?" Nicole whispered. She knew they should probably get inside and be a part of the quiz, but right now she didn't feel like moving. It was weird, how being this close to Waverly made her feel, even after last Friday night. Maybe it was because they were talking about something to intimate, but Nicole almost believed that they could have a real, genuine friendship.

Waverly shuddered in the cold night air. "Mamma left when I was four," she replied, not a single ounce of regret or love in her voice, "and Daddy hung himself in the barn when they stopped searching for Willa. Wynonna found him hanging from one of the beams."

Almost spluttering at the sheer and brutal honesty of Waverly's reply, Nicole felt her cheeks burst with hotness. " _What_?" She heard herself question, and it came out much sharper than anticipated. She back-pedalled, clutching the hem of her t-shirt in her fist, and adding, in a soft whisper, "Really?"

The lithe brunette nodded her head, closing her eyes and breathing deeply out. "Yeah."

"What happened to you and Wynonna?"

A smile erupted on Waverly's face then, and she looked up at Nicole with love shining through her eyes. "We moved in with Aunt Gus and Uncle Curtis," she explained, pushing herself off the wall and sticking her hands into the pockets of her kimono, "Anyway, are you coming back inside?"

Nicole pushed herself off the wall as well. She was confused; confused by Waverly's story and how she could so easily adapt from talking about something so horrible and truly heart-breaking to quiz night and beers. "Yeah," she hoarsely replied, sticking her hands into her back pockets, "yeah, I might need 'nother beer."

Waverly smiled, "I should probably go make sure Wynonna doesn't fuck up all of the questions," she chuckled. It was said jokingly, but it was probably true that Wynonna would do just that.

"That's probably a good idea," Nicole replied, and she followed behind Waverly into the bar. They slipped through the double doors; Waverly moving to take her place at the microphone and Nicole moving towards Rosita behind the bar. Suddenly, there were so many things about Waverly Earp that was starting to make sense. But Nicole had to admit, she wasn't even scared off yet, if possible she was even more intrigued.

Rosita placed a cold beer on the bar for her. "You guys had a good talk?" She asked with a raised eyebrow, challenging Nicole.

The redhead took a long sip of her beer. She needed the liquid for her dry throat after the long talk, but mostly she needed the alcohol after the story she'd just been told. "Yeah," she croaked, placing the bottle back to the table. "She told me about Willa... and her parents."

Rosita's eyebrow arched higher if even possible. "She did?"

Nicole could hear the confusion in her voice, and she could also see it on her face. Rosita was surprised. "Yeah. Why?"

Shaking her head, Rosita moved to grab herself a beer as well. "It's just," she paused, eyes drifting to Waverly who was talking animatedly at the small stage, "she never really talks about it. Especially not with people she doesn't really know," she finished as she shot Nicole a glare beneath hooded eyes.

Gulping, Nicole's eyes moved to Waverly as well. She couldn't ignore the way her heartbeat suddenly seemed to speed up in her chest. "She doesn't?" She questioned, and she hated that she sounded so hopeful.

Rosita nodded. "No."

Nicole clutched her beer and moved to find her way back to the table. She took a seat with her friends, murmuring an apology to Dolls and Eliza, before her eyes landed on Wynonna, who had taken a seat at the table again as well. Nicole couldn't help but think about everything this woman must have seen, must have experienced, even before she was grown-up. She couldn't even imagine what it must be like. Suddenly, Wynonna's trips to jail and her heavy use of whiskey made a bit more sense to Nicole. It appeared that the Earp sisters had handled their troubled past very differently.

Her gaze moved to Waverly again, and Nicole hated herself for it – but all she wanted was to get to know her even better.

Dolls' voice pulled her out of her thoughts. "Do you know, Haught?"

"Huh?" Nicole's eyes landed on her friends' face.

"The capitol of Denmark, what is it?" Eliza sharply cut through.

Nicole flashed them her dimpled smile and reached forward to press the silver bell on their table. "Copenhagen," she exclaimed.


	6. Chapter Six: Hummus Would be Awesome

**CHAPTER SIX: HUMMUS WOULD BE AWESOME**

"Yes Ma," Nicole sighed into the phone, screwing her eyes shut and pressing the palm of her hand on top of her closed eyelid. She pressed, watching as colours danced before her. "Of course I'll be there, how can I not?"

Marie Haught sighed heavily into the phone, over-exaggerating the huff of air, no doubt to guilt trip her youngest daughter even more. "I'm just saying, Nicki, you missed your brother's thirtieth…"

Nicole huffed out air, ignoring how she was now using her mother's own tactic against her, and somehow her father's voice sounded in the back of her head, telling her that she was the clear picture of his wife. "I had a test, Ma, OK? I couldn't just up and leave Alberta, Nate knows this!"

Her mother aha'ed into the phone, clearly dissatisfied with her daughter's excuses.

"I promise I'll be there," Nicole continued, and she totally, really did promise. It was her parents' fiftieth anniversary - the golden wedding anniversary, as Nadine kept reminding her - and she wasn't going to miss it for the world. She slipped off the couch, padding into the kitchen where her planner for the entire year hung, and she ran her finger down the dates, looking for the particular date in April. "Look, here, alright," she said, grabbing a pen from the counter and popping the lid off with her teeth, "I'm writing it up right now, you hear?" She mumbled through gritted teeth, scribbling the words 'Parents wedding anniversary' across the planner. It was a Saturday.

Marie hummed, and Nicole could hear her slurping down coffee on her end of the phone; she could just imagine her, in her favourite chair in the living room, sitting with her crosswords and a cup of coffee, chatting up her daughter on the phone. Just a regular Saturday after all. "Well, are you coming alone then, or are you bringing your new girlfriend?"

Nicole spluttered. She was going to absolutely _kill_ Nadine. "I don't have-" she sighed, leaning her forehead against the closed, cold surface of the refrigerator door. "I don't have a new girlfriend, Ma. Shae and I _just_ broke up," she breathed.

"Well, Nadine said that there is a girl, so what am I to believe then, huh?" She questioned, "My estranged far-away daughter or the one who actually comes to Wednesday dinners?"

She knew that her mother was kidding, but Nicole couldn't help but feel that there was a bit of a truth to the hurt in her mother's voice. She knew that it bothered her family that she was so far away, because they were tight-knit, they always had been, but they also knew - every each of them, even Nicole's mother - that if they wanted her to be happy, she had to be where she was. "Ma, there's no girl, Nadine's just… imagining things."

Marie didn't sound convinced at all. "So are you really telling me that you will not be bringing a date to our wedding? Are you really going to have Neville as your date?" She chuckled deeply. "I know your father joked about it when you and Shae broke up, but I didn't think that it would _really_ come to this," she finished.

Nicole pushed herself away from the refrigerator, brushing pass Calamity Jane on the couch and offering her a stroke on the head, before moving into the bedroom. She didn't know if it was because she was talking to her mother about her love life or if it was the fact that she hadn't changed her sheets yet, but she was instantly reminded of Waverly; she could see her, the way her naked form had been draped over Nicole's body, brunette hair spread over Nicole's pillow, green eyes stared up at her from between Nicole's legs. She saw everything, all the time, when she closed her eyes, and a pang of hurt took hold of her heart. She shrugged it off, forcing the pictures away from her mind.

"Nicki, I just need to know how many plates to order, you hear me?" Marie prodded on, oblivious to the turmoil her daughter was experiencing right that second. "They need it at the caterer's, OK? So am I really only going to order one plate for you, or do you perhaps believe that there could maybe, possibly be a girl joining you at the party?"

Nicole knew there was only one acceptable answer for her mother, so she sat down in front of her closet to dig through it (she needed her work-out gloves) and answered, "Sure, just… just order two plates for me, OK? I'll find a date," she finished. She had no idea who she was going to ask if she wasn't dating anyone in two months' time (and let's face, she probably wasn't), but she could always ask Eliza if it really came down to it.

"Thank you, Nicki," Marie said, and Nicole could hear just how smug she must look, sitting in her chair with her cup of coffee.

Nicole finally found her gloves and piled all of her stuff into her gym-bag along with a fresh change of clothes. "Anyway Ma, I gotta go now, OK?" She huffed into the phone, pulling herself off the floor and zipping up her bag, phone tucked between her shoulder and ear. "I'm meeting Dolls and Eliza at the gym in twenty. We gotta lift some weights."

Nicole could hear the smile on her mother's face when she answered. "Okay darling, say hi to your friends from me, will you?"

Grabbing her bag off the floor, Nicole replied, "Sure thing, Ma, I'll text you tomorrow. Love you loads?" She finished, shooting off their usual goodbye with a questionable chuckle.

"Love you loads," Marie promised, before she hung up the phone.

Nicole went through the apartment; kissing Calamity Jane on the head, grabbing her keys and her wallet, before slipping into her sneakers and smacking the door behind her. Taking the stairs two at a time, she pushed her arms through the straps of the bag and outside she ended up fidgeting with the keys to her bike before she was finally able to unlock it. As she drove down the streets towards their regular gym, Nicole couldn't help but run over the conversation she'd just had with her mother.

She knew that her mother just wanted her to be happy, and that's why they'd always liked Shae for the happiness she brought Nicole, but not particularly enjoyed the fact that they hadn't really gotten to know her - and that was even though she and Nicole had been together for a very long time. She'd met Shae pretty soon after starting university, and they'd been inseparable very quickly. Nicole couldn't help but be annoyed though, that Nadine absolutely had to mention to their parents that 'there was a girl' (even though there absolutely not was any girl, like, at all), because now they were never going to believe Nicole, not matter what she told them.

Why couldn't Nathaniel's new girlfriend be enough? Why couldn't they torture them about when to get married, and when to have kids, and when to do all the couple stuff? Nate was older than her anyway, he should be the natural choice to torture with those things. Nicole knew it was out of love though; her parents knew how much she wanted a family someday, a completely normal life - a wife to come home to after a long day at whatever station she would be employed at, kids to cuddle and play with, love to share. It was all she'd ever wanted, since she was a little girl - she'd always known she was going to get a wife and kids, and her parents wanted that for her as well.

She parked her bike outside the gym, going straight through to the changing rooms. She chose a locker, poured out her work-out clothes and stuffed everything else into the small space before she changed. She'd go run a few miles on the treadmill while she waited for Dolls and Eliza to get their asses together and show up, and then she'd need Dolls to spot her. She really needed to work on her upper body strength today.

—-

Wynonna kicked her ass at pool. It was hard for Nicole to admit that; being the all-time pool champion that she was, but Wynonna had bested her. Maybe it was because the other woman was playing unfair, shooting off insults and cheating whenever possible, but Wynonna seemed to have won their game.

Which she would _not_ shut up about.

"I won!" She repeated for possibly the hundredth time as she returned to their table with an armful of beers for all of them, "I won, Red, I beat your ass!"

Nicole sighed and grabbed one of the beers from her grasp, "Yes, Wynonna, you won," she indulged her. She didn't know the other woman very well, but she was quickly coming to realise that it was better to indulge Wynonna with certain things. It seemed to be most people's tactic with her, actually, except Eliza who had decided to challenge her at every possible second.

Wynonna kicked back in her chair, feet on the table and a smirk plastered across her face. "I'm just sayin' it for good measure, Red, because Dolls here told me that you were the best pool player of all time, and naturally I couldn't live with that," she finished, downing half of her beer in one gulp.

Dolls had a tiny smile on his face, "Naturally."

Wynonna burped. "I'm just sayin'!"

Eliza rolled her eyes and let out a long burp as well. "You call that burping, Earp?"

Nicole reached over, placing a hand across her friend's mouth and shooting a look in Wynonna's direction as well. "No more burping," she firmly said then, because someone at their table had to have manners.

Doc let out a low chuckle, moustache twitching as he said, "You trying to educate Wynonna on manners? No such feat has ever been done," he took a sip out of the flask Nicole had quickly learned he always carried in his inner pocket, "Good luck on your endeavours, Ms. Haught," he toasted her.

Wynonna wriggled her eyebrows at them. "Waves've been trying to teach me manners for years, but she's had no such luck," she proclaimed, raising her bottle to her lips once more.

Letting her hand fall from Eliza's face and glancing nonchalantly around the room, the words were over Nicole's lips before she could even help herself. "Where _is_ Waverly?" She mumbled, and when Dolls shot her a certain look, she quickly added, "And Rosita and Jeremy? What are _they_ doing tonight?"

Someone else was behind the bar today; a law student from the university, a girl named Mercedes Gardner who kept addressing Wynonna as 'bitch', and who flirted with all the male customers blatantly. She was a fellow redhead though, so Nicole had to give her that.

It hadn't even been in her plan to go out and get beers today. Dolls and Eliza had asked her while they were working out earlier, because they had plans to hang out with Wynonna at Shorty's, and as usual, when Eliza asked, it wasn't really a question but more of an order, and so Nicole was thankful for her change of clothes, because they'd grabbed take-away dinner at Dolls and Eliza's apartment before heading to the bar that Nicole was suddenly frequenting a lot.

It was fun though, hanging out with Wynonna and Doc. Nicole had to admit that even though Wynonna appeared to be very different than her sister - she certainly was a lot more crass and messy - she took a liking to her immediately. Nicole liked when people were so honest, even when it wasn't always wanted; it was a character trait that not many people possessed. Maybe it was because Wynonna was a mess (and who could blame her with that past, really?), but it was still refreshing. Nicole liked to believe that she could sometimes spot a waiver of hurt behind those blue eyes (eyes that very definitely not that shimmering green colour that her sister's were, not that Nicole spent much time thinking about Waverly's eyes), and she had to admit that she'd maybe spent the better part of her Thursday googling various phrases such as 'Earp kidnapping', 'Earp suicide' or 'Waverly and Wynonna Earp' trying to gather information. Maybe it was a bit creepy, but no one could hardly blame her for being curious. Not after what she'd just learned about the past of Waverly and Wynonna.

"Something nerdy," Wynonna proclaimed, huffing out air and eyeing Nicole, "I bet it's something nerdy."

Doc flicked a cigarette out of his package, watching them all pointedly as he turned it on. "Those two have somehow managed to get out of their usual Friday and Saturday shifts," he said, huffing out air and not caring one single bit about the fact that he probably wasn't supposed to smoke inside anymore, with smoking laws and such. But it _was_ his bar after all. "Last weekend they were not working either. Perhaps we need new waitresses and barmaids."

Wynonna shrugged her shoulder, "They work during the week," she pointed out, "and there has to be some perks to sort of owning the bar as well as sleeping with one of the people who sort of owns the bar."

Nicole felt her eye widen and her heartbeat speed up, but she sipped her beer and tried to appear casual.

Dolls raised an eyebrow, "What? Who's sleeping with who?"

"But Rosita and Waverly of course," Doc informed him, sucking on his cigarette and looking up at them from beneath his hat.

Nicole really wished they'd drop this subject, because it made her heart do strange this inside of her chest, and it was not pleasant at all. However there was also a strange, perhaps masochistic part of her, that really wanted to hear more about this, because as far as she had been told, Rosita and Waverly were not sleeping together anymore.

Eliza looked immediately interested by this new information as well; maybe she hadn't really spoken much to either Waverly or Rosita, because it appeared that she hadn't been aware of the fact that both of them liked women. Something Nicole might or might not have chosen consciously not to tell her - she just didn't want her friend to get any ideas and try to sleep with either of them. Well, mostly just not sleep with Waverly; she could bang Rosita all night for all Nicole cared. "Are they together?"

"No."

The words were out of Nicole's mouth before she could even stop herself, and the other four people at the table turned to look at her. Dolls was wearing that stupid, knowing smile on his face, and Doc just looked at her in amusement.

Wynonna's eyes twinkled when she said, "Oh really, Red? And how do you know that?"

Shrugging, Nicole was suddenly very interested in the wooden surface of their table. She wasn't interested in their conversation though, that was for sure. She couldn't care less whether or not Waverly and Rosita were still sleeping together. It didn't matter to her, her friends could sleep with whoever they wanted to. In fact, she was happy if her friends had fulfilling sex lives; it was important to some people after all.

"I'll have you know," Wynonna added, and Nicole rose her eyes to look at her, "that Waverly came home last Saturday morning, looking thoroughly _fucked_ ," she paused, eyes twinkling, "and despite the fact that she wants to be single and shit, I know she wouldn't just spend the night with whoever. So yeah, she must have spent it with Rosita."

Nicole could feel heat rise in her cheeks and she was thankful for the low lighting inside the bar. She tried to hide her face behind a veil of hair, but it was hard with Dolls' scrutinising look from across the table. "Sure," she hoarsely whispered, suddenly experiencing a very dry throat, "she must've."

Eliza suddenly broke out laughing; kicking back in her chair and guffawing loud enough for the entire establishment to hear. Nicole hated that her friends knew her so damn well; it was annoying because it made wanting to keep things quiet very difficult. The blonde woman's eyes twinkled and she pointed a finger in Nicole's direction. "You slept with one of them, didn't you?"

Wynonna glared at her, eyes of steel and a dissatisfied smirk across her face. "You slept with my sister, Red!?" She accused, and Nicole knew there was no point in denying it. She was still going to try though. Just for good measure.

She huffed, taking a sip of her beer. "No."

"You did!" Wynonna replied, and Nicole couldn't tell if she sounded disgusted or impressed or maybe a little bit of both. "Haught-stuff, I was starting to like you after beating your ass at pool, but now I find out you've betrayed me already by fucking my baby sister," she tutted and shook her head dismissively, "What shall I do about you?"

Nicole felt her eyes turn wide as she looked at Wynonna. "I'm, I'm," she stopped, not even sure what to say to her own defence, truly not even sure why she needed a defence at all. "I'm… sorry?"

Doc laughed, tilting his head back and slamming his closed fist into the surface of the wooden table. "Wynonna, could you pray tell stop tormenting the poor woman?"

Wynonna childishly stuck her tongue out at him before turning back to Nicole. "I'm actually just shitting you, Red," she said before breaking into a full-blown belly laugh.

Nicole couldn't help but laugh as well; she chuckled to herself, sipping her beer and tried to remember when she'd last felt so comfortable surrounded by friends. She didn't use to feel entirely like this; but there was something so relaxing about Wynonna and Doc, she just felt welcome. It was a nice change of pace to drink beer and play pool without too much drama.

"So what, Haught-shit," Wynonna continued then, "do you wanna date Waves? Or are you OK with friends with benefits kind of situation?"

Dolls nudged her leg with this, "What's with the third degree, Earp?"

Wynonna took a long gulp of her beer, emptying the bottle and slamming it onto the table. "Gotta take care of my baby sister, don't I?"

Doc got out his flask again, unscrewing the lid and offering it to her, "Stop meddling in Waverly's relationships, Wynonna."

Nicole thought that that sounded very reasonable, but Wynonna disagreed immediately. "What?" She huffed, grabbing the flask and waving it around as she spoke, "Wave's the normal one, alright? Gotta make sure she's happy and in love and shit. I'm the messed up one, and they took the other good one into the woods and killed her, so," she finished with a pointed look and took a sip of the liquor in the flask before handing it back to Doc.

A silence took over their table then; Nicole wasn't sure how much Dolls and Eliza already knew about the Earps' past, but then they for sure knew something now. By the look on Dolls' face he had been slightly aware, but Eliza looked puzzled. Thankfully she was smart enough not to say something right now.

Clearing her throat, Nicole decided to break the silence. She offered Wynonna a soft smile, "Waverly and I are just friends, by the way," she said, earnestly, "It was a onetime thing kind of situation," she added. She tried not to sound too disappointed about it, but she was pretty sure that Dolls could at least tell that she wasn't entirely pleased with those turn of events. Wynonna seemed to take it as a good enough explanation then, and she nodded her head, before signalling to Mercedes to bring them more beer.

Dolls nudged Nicole's foot with his own, and she met his gaze. He offered her a supportive smile.

"So Haught-ness," Eliza abruptly said, pushing her chair back and shooting Nicole a challenging look, "will this be the night I beat you at pool?"

Nicole pushed her chair back and followed the blonde to the pool table. She was pretty sure Eliza was never going to beat her at pool, but that didn't mean Nicole didn't want her to try. She did love to play pool after all.

—-

As the night progressed, Nicole kept beating Eliza at pool, and eventually her friend went to make out with a dark-skinned, very handsome, man in the corner of the bar. Nicole offered to play Wynonna one more time; this once promising to make sure that she didn't cheat her way to a win. Wynonna took that promise as a great insult, and she went in guns blazing, although slightly drunk and with a poor aim.

Nicole broke and ended up choosing stripes, but before she had time to do anything else, Wynonna thrust her pitcher of beer into her hand. Nicole was about to protest in confusion, but Wynonna's wild mane of brown curls engulfed someone else in a hug.

"Baby girl, you're _here_!"

Oh, so Waverly was that someone else. Nicole tried to ignore the way her stomach did a funny flutter and turned her focus towards the table, trying to make out her next move. She placed Wynonna's beer on the corner of the table and leaned herself against the cue stick.

"Nicole, what are you doing here?" Waverly questioned, and she sounded very confused. Nicole thought that she looked adorable though, questions written across her beautiful face. And she was not wearing heels this night, so she seemed so tiny. Nicole felt like pulling her close and nestling her in the nook of her armpit.

Wynonna's voice was a little slurred when she reached for her beer, "I'm beatin' her Haught ass in pool, baby girl," she told them with a serious face.

Waverly offered Nicole a sheepish smile. "I didn't know you would be here tonight, I would've..." She trailed off, probably not sure what she would have done, and Nicole was quite honestly not sure either.

The redhead rubbed her suddenly sweaty palms against her jean-covered thigh. "Yeah, it wasn't... planned," she lamely finished, not quite able to tear her eyes away from Waverly's green ones. They seemed to shimmer so happily right now. Nicole didn't want to think too much about why that pleased her so much.

Wynonna huffed out air, kicking the cue stick out of Nicole's grasp. "Stop eye-fucking and let me play Haught-shit," she commented.

Waverly let out an indignant huff. "Wynonna! _Language_ , puh-lease," she said, crossing her arms over her chest and tapping her foot lightly against the dirty floor. Nicole thought she looked particularly adorable.

"Bore," Wynonna childishly replied before she thrust her beer into Waverly's hand and flicked Nicole's arm, "I'm gonna go decide whether I should sleep with Dolls or Doc tonight," she looked pass Nicole's shoulder, gazing towards their table where the two guys were sharing stories and drinking beers, "Ah, such difficult decisions!"

Nicole felt her eyes widen (was Wynonna sleeping with Doc as well as Dolls? She had not been aware of _that_ ), but Waverly didn't look the slightest bit surprised. She rolled her eyes at her big sister. "Yes, Wynonna, two equally handsome men wants to sleep with you, please enlighten us about your difficult life."

Snorting, Nicole looked away from the sisters, trying to hide her amusement. It didn't go unnoticed by Waverly, though Wynonna seemed oblivious to the sarcasm.

"Yes," she whined, eyebrow raised, "do I want super sexy out of this world amazing awesome sex with Doc, or do I want more of a tender love and care kinda situation tonight?" She sighed heavily, "How do I make this decision."

"Go away now," Waverly commented, pushing her sister towards the table.

Nicole waited until Wynonna was sat back at the table between Doc and Dolls, before turning to Waverly with a smile on her face. "Do Doc and Dolls know she's sleeping with them both? And _why_ is she sleeping with them both?"

Waverly shrugged and took a long sip of her sister's leftover beer. "She's Wynonna," she simply replied, "and no, I don't think Dolls is entirely aware," she paused, looking towards the table with wonder, "Is he going to be OK when he finds out?"

Feeling her stomach tie itself into a knot, Nicole knew for sure that he was not going to be okay. "I don't think so," she replied with a shake of her head.

Humming, Waverly turned back to the pool table. "Are we going to play now?"

Nicole grabbed a hold of her cue stick and motioned towards the table. "Are you a sore loser? 'Cuz I'm gonna beat you," she promised, and she felt her dimples popping out, involuntarily turning on the charm, because she knew she really wasn't supposed to.

The tiny brunette placed the beer back on the table and grabbed another cue stick, "I'm very bad at pool, but I'm also a very sore loser, so you're going to have to teach me," she promised, and if Nicole didn't know any better, she would have thought that Waverly was flirting with her.

Lining up her shot, Nicole replied, "I can do that," she promised, and, firing off the shot, she added, "I'm stripes by the way."

"Those are the ones with the white on them, right?" Waverly asked, eyeing the table quizzically.

How someone could be so adorable, Nicole didn't know. It sucked though, because it made it decidedly harder to be just friends. Especially when Waverly was wearing a crop top and very tight jeans. And was now leaning over the table, tongue peeking out as she tried to concentrate. Nicole had never met anyone else who managed to be adorable and sexy at the same time, but it was something Waverly managed to perfection. Sure, they were friends, but that didn't mean she couldn't look, right?

She stepped closer to Waverly then, reaching forward and helping her with the cue stick. "You should go for that one over there," she murmured into her ear, motioning towards one of Waverly's balls. It was a pretty clear shot.

Waverly made the shot and it went horribly wrong. She groaned, and Nicole bit her lip to stop herself from teasing her about it.

"So, what did you do today?" She asked instead, also because she kind of wanted to know. Friends asked each other those kind of questions, right?

Brushing a piece of her hair away from her face, Waverly watched her, as she carefully moved to find a shot. "I was with Rosie, we uh," she licked her lips, a smile adorning her face, "we had a study session. Drank loooots of coffee," she finished.

Ignoring the way her stomach tightened at the thought of Rosita, Nicole took her shot. "Did you finish your studies then?"

Waverly nodded. "No, uh, not at all actually," she smiled, shaking her head to herself, "I wanted to invite you actually, but I didn't have your number, so," she finished, eyelids fluttering.

Nicole's dimples made another involuntary performance, coming out to play across her face. "Oh really?" She teasingly said, nudging her hip to Waverly's, "Is this your way of asking me for my number?"

Rolling her eyes, Waverly took another shot at the aforementioned ball, and this time she actually managed to hit – it didn't go in though. "Fudgenuggets," she mumbled to herself, clearly not wanting to give Nicole the satisfaction of an answer.

"Hey," Nicole said then, reaching for Waverly's hand and gently tugging at it to get her to turn around. "You can have my number, you know," she said, eyelids fluttering as she tried to ignore the rush of electricity she felt where their skin touched. "We're friends, right? Friends hang out and study and stuff," she heard herself whisper, even if she was right now making her life more difficult to live. She already had a hard time enough spending time with Waverly as it was, did she really want to add to that?

Waverly's smile was absolutely radiant when she looked up at Nicole. "Really?"

Dismissing the tingles all over her body, Nicole felt herself nod. "Sure! I was actually gonna cram tomorrow, so if you still have stuff to do..." She trailed off, inwardly cursing herself for offering, but at the same time loving the fact that Waverly appeared to be so happy about it.

"Can I come to your place?" She breathlessly questioned.

Her heartbeat was positively trying to beat its way out of her chest, Nicole was sure of that, there could simply not be any other explanation for the way it hammered away. "Sure," she smiled, and as an afterthought – just because she knew it was the right thing to do – she added. "Rosita can come too, if she still has work to do."

"She doesn't," Waverly quickly said, a flicker of... something in her eyes. "Nope, she finished it all today," she added, nodding her head up and down and smiling brightly at Nicole. "Should I bring hummus?"

Nicole couldn't help it; she felt herself laugh. Maybe it was at the odd offering of hummus, or maybe it was at the pleasant knowledge that Rosita wasn't going to be joining them tomorrow. No matter what, she laughed and Waverly smiled sheepishly at her, grin tucking at the corner of her eyes.

"Sure," Nicole said, nudging the other woman slightly with her foot, "hummus would be awesome."


	7. Chapter Seven: Fuzzy Socks and Feelings

**CHAPTER SEVEN: FUZZY SOCKS AND FUZZY FEELINGS**

Waverly brought hummus. With vegetable sticks and rye crackers. And her (amazing, at least according to Waverly herself) banana nut muffins. And it all looked absolutely delicious.

Nicole wasn't sure how they were going to eat all of that though, but she wasn't about to complain, because she totally liked food. Not that she wasn't surprised when Waverly deposited an entire bag of food on the kitchen counter and told her that she ought to put it in the fridge.

Nicole dug into the bag while Waverly threw her jacket on the back of the couch and started peering around the living room. "Calamity Jane?" She questioned, her voice going low as she called for the feline.

"She's probably still snuggling in bed," Nicole commented, while she tried to stuff the containers of food into her tiny refrigerator. It wasn't that her fridge was usually stocked or anything, but Waverly had really cut up a lot of vegetables. Bell peppers, cucumbers, carrots, radishes, and oh… celery?

Waverly stopped in her search, glancing awkwardly at the doorway to the bedroom. She had a slightly embarrassed tint on her cheeks, no doubt remembering what had occurred the last time she had been in Nicole's apartment - more specifically what had occurred in said bed and how she had left things.

Nicole watched her debate with herself whether or not she should go in there, and the redhead couldn't help but feel slightly amused. She wanted to laugh, but she held it back, cheeks popping. "It's okay, you can go in there, Waverly," she finally ended up saying, nudging her head towards the door as she reached for the coffee maker. "You want coffee?"

Waverly didn't answer, but took a tentative step closer towards the bedroom, lingering in the doorway as she peered inside. Nicole was certain that she was looking at the orange tabby, snuggled in Nicole's warm covers, because she'd left the cat like that, only thirty minutes earlier. This morning, after they'd both been up to eat (Calamity Jane from her bowl on the floor, Nicole an apple from the bowl on the counter) they had found themselves back under the covers, not quite ready to get up. They'd snuggled all morning, watching Netflix on her laptop and generally had a nice time. The cat hadn't been too pleased with Nicole, when she'd finally pulled herself out of bed to take a shower and get ready.

"Coffee would be nice," Waverly whispered, tiptoeing over the threshold as her curiosity and want to see the cat finally got the better of her. Nicole heard her greet Calamity Jane in a low murmur.

The redhead let them be, brushing off thoughts of how absolutely amazing it could have been if Waverly hadn't had a deep desire to be single. She could have just pictured it all; them waking up together in her bedroom (she still had no idea of where Waverly lived, like, at all) and snuggling together with Calamity Jane. She could also imagine a lot of other things that they would probably be doing in her bedroom if they were dating, but she thought it best not to think too much of that right now. Especially not with Waverly in said bedroom, and Nicole's nerves tingling in the pit of her stomach.

She started the coffee maker, pulling out mugs and placing them on the counter; everything was ready for a study session, just like she used to have them with Shae, and she got the milk out as well, not sure if Waverly preferred that or not. As the coffee brewed, the coffee maker emanating an awful sound, once more reminding her how close it was to brewing its last cup of liquid strength, she stepped towards her bedroom, peeking around the doorway.

What she was faced with did in no way ease her budding imagination. It was quite distracting actually, the sheer cuteness of it. Waverly had fallen onto her bed too, snuggled herself around Calamity Jane, whose head was now resting on one of her arms as she stretched her paws and purred. What a sight to behold.

Waverly grinned cheekily up at her, eyes half closed. "I really like your cat," she told Nicole then, as if that hadn't been obvious.

"She seems to like you too," Nicole commented, brows raising to her forehead as she watched the cat roll over, showing Waverly the white, soft, curls on her stomach.

The brunette reached down and scratched her. "You're so cute," she whispered, peppering the stomach with kisses. "Not as cute as your mother though," she added, throwing Nicole a wink.

Swallowing, Nicole beckoned her closer with a wave. "I think the coffee's about done, so we really should start cramming," she paused, lingering in the doorway as Waverly tried to untangle herself from the bedsheets and the displeased cat, "Do you want snacks now?"

Waverly stumbled forwards, and Nicole had to grasp at her to keep her from tumbling into the wall. Her right hand brushed over Waverly's butt as she tried to steady her with a hand on the hip. Waverly averted her eyes, and Nicole tried not to read too much into the pinking of her cheeks.

"Sorry 'bout that," the redhead hoarsely whispered, before dropping her hand from Waverly's body and letting them both fall to hang limply at her sides.

"It's okay," Waverly replied, brushing a strand of her hair out of her face. Her front teeth poked out to bite her bottom lip. "Need help with the snacks?"

Nicole went into motion then; shaking her head, she moved from the doorway to the kitchen, to get out a container of hummus and an assortment of vegetables. She watched out of the corner of her eye as Waverly looked around the tiny living room, coming to a halt in front of the pictures Nicole had on the wall. They'd been hanging there for as long as she'd lived in the apartment, the only changes being done when she'd added some along the way. Just after Christmas she'd hung a picture of Molly, Peter and Neville that her sister had gotten her.

She placed the snacks on the counter and moved to stand besides Waverly, whose eyes were scanning each picture carefully. Nicole felt her heart thud against her chest when she came to realise that Shae was still smiling brightly down at them as well. It was a picture of their entire group of friends, people that Nicole had spent so much time with, called her closest friends, so naturally they had gotten a spot on the wall as well. She just actually hadn't even thought about taking the picture down yet - but maybe it was about time?

"Is that your ex-girlfriend?" Waverly questioned then, probably because she'd followed Nicole's line of sight. She reached a finger out to the picture, where Nicole and Shae stood closely together, hands intertwined and looking absolutely in love amongst their friends. The picture was from Shae's last birthday, almost a year ago. There were balloons and streamers everywhere and Nicole could tell how completely in love she looked.

She swallowed loudly, "Yeah," she said, stuffing her hands into the pockets of her sweatpants and continued, "yeah, that's Shae."

Waverly was still looking at the picture when she replied. "She's beautiful."

Nodding her head, Nicole could only agree. Shae was beautiful, extraordinarily so. It was one of the things that had first made Nicole interested in her. And she was smart too, great in the bedroom and ambitious. But all of those nice things didn't mean a single thing when it just wasn't right. When Nicole just didn't feel it enough, didn't feel like herself enough. It was hard to explain though. "Yeah, she's… she's great, actually," she ended up saying.

But she had to admit that she didn't think Shae was even half as great as the tiny, adorable human who was right now standing next to her. But Nicole decided she had better keep that thought to herself.

Turning to look at her, Waverly's green eyes were wavering slightly. "Why'd you break up?" She questioned, and Nicole wasn't quite able to read her face. "I mean, Rosita told me a little, but…"

"It wasn't right," Nicole replied, looking back at the picture. She was surprised how fondly she was starting to remember her time with Shae. Just a month ago she could barely function, even though she knew - and she knew that Shae knew - that it was the right decision to break things off. She'd been heartbroken, stayed in bed for days. She even had Eliza worried, which evidently said a lot. But now? Now she was thinking back on her ex-girlfriend with happy memories of the time they shared, and she couldn't help but feel that it was partly due to the woman right next to her. Even if she totally wasn't supposed to feel like that. Like, at all actually. Did it count if she didn't say it aloud to anybody?

Waverly drew in a shaky breath. Her brow was furrowed, and she looked completely adorable when she was contemplating something so deeply. "But," she licked her lips, tongue peeking out and teasing Nicole with all its worth, "how do you know that? I mean… when you've been together with someone so long, how do you just suddenly know it isn't right anyway?"

Shrugging, Nicole let her eyes drift from the picture and back to Waverly's face. "You just… know," she lamely finished. There really was no other way for her to explain it. She couldn't explain it, not with any words she knew. "Just like," she paused, screwing her eyes shut and telling herself that she ought to move on from this weird feeling in the pit of her stomach, "just like you know when it's right… when everything just feels… natural, you know? Easy," she finished.

"Like it's no effort at all and you were meant to be together?" Waverly questioned then, looking up at Nicole through her long, naked lashes.

"Sure," Nicole nodded in agreement, her brown eyes finally locking to Waverly's green ones, even if she'd been trying to avoid them as much as possible ever since the brunette arrived, "but also just with… a lot of love," she finished. 'And you make it feel easy,' she blinked as the thought surged through her mind, adding to her sentence, even if she would never say the last words aloud, 'you make me feel loved, even if you don't intend to.'

Nodding, Waverly turned back to look at the pictures on the wall, pointing out another one. "Is that your family?" She questioned, blinking as she stepped closer, running her finger over the glass.

Nicole hardly thought it deserved an answer, because to anybody it was clear that they were related. If not for their tall, lanky frames, then for the red hair that they had somehow all ended up with. Even her father's was red, although it was starting to grey on the top. "Yeah, siblings and parents," she replied, raising to her toes, before falling to her heels, "and my sister's husband and kids," she added, pointing them out, "thankfully _not_ redheads."

Waverly grinned up at her. "You look like the Weasleys," she commented, letting her finger rest on Nicole's face on the picture.

Nicole nudged Waverly's foot with her own one. "Not like I haven't heard that one before, you nerd," she teased, running her fussy sock over Waverly's calve.

Turning to her with a sheepish grin, Waverly did not look sorry at all. "Well, it's true," she pouted, puckering out her lower lip.

"Come on," Nicole replied. She reached for her hand and tugged her towards the counter. "Coffee's done, so we better get cramming."

"Talking is funner," Waverly childishly retorted, pulling herself onto one of the barstools and immediately reaching for a piece of bell pepper. Dipping it in the hummus, she munched on it as she started searching through her bag. "Dang, I make good hummus," she lowly murmured.

Nicole tried to hold back her chuckle as she watched the other woman munching away on her vegetable. It was so darn adorable; everything from the way Waverly was eating, to the way she was not even close to being tall enough to reach the floor from her seat. The redhead poured the coffee into the pot and placed it on the counter, before pulling herself onto a barstool as well. It was going to be next to impossible to focus on her Psychology essay, but she had better get a move on.

They worked in silence for a long time; only the sound of pages being flipped through, fingers typing away on a keyboard, and pen scribbling furiously, mixed with coffee being slurped and vegetables being munched. It was kind of fantastic, if Nicole was honest - to just sit there, drink coffee, eat healthy and have Waverly right there next to her. It sucked, but she could totally get used to it.

And It wasn't even _that_ hard to concentrate. Sure, she sometimes got a bit distracted by the muscles working in Waverly's arms when she'd discarded her blazer to reveal tan, strong upper arms, but Nicole actually managed to get a fair bit of writing done. Her essay wasn't looking too shabby, even if Psychology was her least favourite class. She wasn't that good at it, and she wasn't entirely sure how much of the things that they learned, she was going to use as a future police officer, but she'd needed a bit more credit, and Dolls was right there with her every Thursday after two, so it was liveable.

Waverly was working on a bigger assignment for her History course. She said she was doing a feminist reading on Cleopatra, which Nicole didn't totally understand everything of, but she seemed quite into the book she was hunched over. She'd taken probably ten pages of notes, so when she finally threw down her pen and closed the book, Nicole thought they both deserved a break. The brunette stretched her back, reaching up her arms and wiggling slightly on the barstool, and it was only a little distracting with the way her crop top rode up to reveal her abs.

Nicole gulped. She remembered those abs, she remembered them quite fondly actually. She'd been running her tongue all over them not that long ago, and there was a spot, just left of Waverly's navel, that had her squirming in two seconds flat. If Nicole wanted to, she could just reach out right now and touch it— she blinked, when she felt Waverly's warm hand on her arm.

"Nicole?" The other woman curiously peered, voice confused, and a smile tugging at the corner of her lips.

The redhead blinked, pulling herself out of her train of thoughts. When had Waverly moved from the barstool to the floor? And had she said anything? "Uuuh," she gulped, brown eyes meeting Waverly's green ones. "I'm sorry?" She hummed, closing the tab with her essay, thus removing herself from the tingling contact with Waverly's fingers.

"I asked if you were feeling hungry yet," Waverly chuckled as she moved around the counter and pulled open the fridge. She seemed so at home already, which both scared and pleased Nicole at the same time. She pulled out a pitcher of water and placed it on the counter. "I should have brought sandwiches," she murmured then, finger on her chin, as she scanned the containers of vegetables.

"You know what," Nicole said then as she hopped off the barstool and absentmindedly ran a hand through her red hair, "why don't I pop downstairs and get us Thai? There's a really good place just around the corner."

Waverly paused, green eyes landing on Nicole's fingers as they touched through her hair. "Do they have Phat Thai?" She breathlessly questioned, eyes not moving from Nicole's hand, as it dropped from her hair to land on the counter top. She stepped closer, reaching a hand out to brush a piece of red hair behind Nicole's ear. "You're not wearing a cap today," she commented.

Nicole felt that prickling feeling all over; starting where Waverly's finger brushed against her cheek, but moving all the way to the tips of her toes. "I'm," she breathed out, willing herself to gather at least a semblance of control, "I just showered, before you got here... it was," she paused, flinching at how lame she sounded, "wet."

Waverly dropped her hand to her side, nodding thoughtfully. "Can I get spring rolls?"

Pulled out of her daze by the sudden change of topic, Nicole grabbed her keys, wallet and phone from the counter top. "Sure," she replied, stuffing it all into her jeans jacket, "I'll be real quick, OK? Just make yourself at home, give CJ some love or whatever," she added.

Nodding, Waverly followed her to the door, and Nicole brushed down the stairwell, hearing it close behind her. She didn't know what it was about Waverly, or about this day, or about last night, or about anything, but she was feeling so very confused. What was going on? It couldn't possibly be her own imagination, not with everything, because Waverly was surely acting more than just caring towards her. What was up with that? If Nicole didn't know any better, she would swear that they were dating.

Yet she knew that they _weren't_.

She walked briskly down the street, stepping into the small Thai place at the corner; she and Shae used to frequent it a lot, and she'd had her fair share of meals with Dolls and Eliza from there as well. It had never disappointed her, and she practically always got the same dish.

Stepping to the counter, she ordered Phat Thai and spring rolls for Waverly, as well as Chicken Cashew for herself, and after paying, she took a seat on one of the chairs to wait for the food. Thankfully there weren't any other people in line, so it was probably going to be done quickly. Taking out her phone from her pocket, she unlocked it and started sorting through her messages. She hadn't really bothered to check up on anything since yesterday before they went to Shorty's, so she wasn't surprised to see a few texts from Nadine and an abundance of snapchats from Nathaniel. What surprised her the most however... was Shae's name on her screen.

Nicole's first thought was thoroughly confusing. What the heck did Shae want with her now? It had been many weeks since they'd last spoken; a conversation which had turned more into an almost-fight that ended with Nicole deciding that those poor excuses for friends she'd shared with Shae simply wasn't worth it. Which she hadn't regretted once since her decision, even though she'd felt a little lonely in the beginning. But now – now Shae's name was on her screen, and she really wanted to just delete the message. However, she knew that if she had actually taken time out of her busy, busy schedule to text Nicole, it had to be important. Because they'd agreed that there was no reason whatsoever for them to keep up staying in contact.

So, Nicole clicked on the message and bid her teeth into the side of her thumb as she scanned over the words. Huh. She didn't know what she had expected, but that definitely wasn't it. Apparently Shae had gathered a box of Nicole's belongings that had been left at her place. Apparently she thought that Nicole ought to come pick it up sooner rather than later. Apparently, apparently.

Nicole had heard through the grapevine that Shae may or may not be dating some incredibly beautiful lawyer to-be, and she really hoped for her ex-girlfriend that she'd finally found a counterpart that didn't disappoint her constantly (not that Nicole understood why she'd kept disappointing Shae; she'd just been, well, herself), but she just perhaps maybe didn't feel like getting it rubbed into her face so soon? Or was that just her? Besides, she'd never missed any of those things she'd _apparently_ left at Shae's place, so how important could they be?

Deciding to figure it out later, Nicole stuffed her phone back into her pocket and tapped her fingers against the table. She wondered what Waverly was up to back at her apartment. She swore, if she came home to find her snuggled in bed with Calamity Jane, Nicole wouldn't know what to do with herself. It was hard enough that-

"Here's your order!"

Nicole pulled herself off the chair and moved to grab the paper bag at the counter. She thanked the owner profusely before slipping out of the tiny restaurant and down the street. She was already digging out her keys as she hurried down the pavement, somehow extremely eager to get back to her apartment, back to studying, back to eating, back to... Waverly.

She went up the stairs, taking them three at a time thanks to her long legs, and she fumbled with the keys to her door for just a second, before she finally managed to get them in and unlock it. She slipped inside. "Food's here," she announced, before she came to a halt, because Waverly was looking at her guiltily, from above the computer screen, and Nicole could hear the unmistakable sound of her mother's yapping coming from the speakers. "What are you doing?" She questioned, nudging off her shoes and stepping towards the counter to drop the food there.

Waverly licked her lip. "She kept requesting a Skype-call, so eventually I thought that I'd just," she paused, brushing a piece of hair out of her eyes, looking only a little flustered, "I'd just answer and say that you were coming right back."

"Nicole?" Marie's voice interrupted them, "Are you back, sweetheart?"

Finding this situation beyond weird, Nicole thought it better to just go with the flow. Even though she inwardly cursed her mother for being on her case constantly, and Waverly for being the sweet and thoughtful person that she was, and even her own body for betraying her by letting her heart hammer hotly in her chest. She slipped around the counter and bent down to greet her mother, truly surprised to see her father sitting right next to her. "Hi Ma, hi Paps, I'm back," she smiled.

"We were just talking to Waverly," Marie said, and there was a certain tone to her voice, something that told Nicole that they were going to be discussing this matter later on, no matter if Nicole wanted to or not. "And what a sweetheart, right Albert?"

Nodding his head, Albert Haught agreed, "Yes, what a sweetheart."

Waverly was blushing immensely next to her, and Nicole padded her thigh for good measure. "You're really too kind, Mr. and Mrs. Haught," she replied, and Nicole was amazed with her ability to sound like such a polite schoolgirl. Especially because she knew which kind of curse words she could elicit from Waverly's pink lips if she wanted to. "Anyway, I'll let you talk to your daughter now, I'll just... make myself scarce," she finished as she hopped off the chair.

"Don't be ridiculous, Waves," Nicole replied, tasting out the nickname on her tongue and deciding that she liked it quite a lot. It seemed – if the smile on Waverly's face was any indication at all – that she did, too. "You can just get the food out, this probably won't take long."

Smiling, Waverly set about getting the food ready.

Nicole turned back to her parents, "Now that you've probably grilled my friend more than is without a doubt appropriate, is there a reason for this impromptu Skype-call?"

Albert raised an eyebrow. "Aren't we allowed to call our daughter on her computer anymore?" He wanted to know, brown eyes mischievously shimmering. Nicole knew he liked to say that she took after her mother, but she knew very well just how much she resembled him.

Marie nudged him in the side with her elbow. "We wanted to see your beautiful face, Nicki," she whispered, and Nicole ducked her head slightly, not wanting to meet Waverly's eyes above the laptop screen.

"Ma," she objected, because she could feel Waverly's eyes on her, and she felt her cheeks starting to tint pink. "I have company," she breathed, even though that was the lamest excuse ever, and it wouldn't work on her embarrassing folks.

"Please," Marie scoffed, wriggling her nose and offering Nicole a pointed glare, "Waverly has eyes you know, I'm sure it's not that hard for her to see that you're beautiful, Nicki."

Albert added, "Anyone can see that."

Nicole stared at Waverly then, eyes wide in embarrassment, and as she mouthed an 'I'm sorry' above the screen, Waverly shook her head dismissively.

"I do have eyes, you know," she said with a smile, brow raising to her forehead, "and they're seeing the same thing as your parents' eyes."

Nicole felt herself flush even further, and she stared at her keyboard, ignoring Waverly's smile, ignoring her parents on the screen, and simply looking at the 'E' which was barely visible anymore, the white of the letter worn off due to hours of use. She brushed a piece of hair behind her ear and scratched her cheek.

"Waverly dear," Marie interrupted then, pulling Nicole out of her thoughts and forcing Waverly to step around the counter to look at the screen. Not that she seemed to mind that much, she actually looked rather pleased by it. "We're having our fiftieth anniversary; will you be Nicki's date?"

If Waverly was confused by the suggestion, she didn't show it. "Sure, I'd be delighted to! When is it?" She questioned, her lips curling into a beautiful smile.

"It's in April," Albert confirmed, nodding his head as a tiny smile came upon his lips. "Nicole can tell you all about it."

"Parents!" Nicole objected, shaking her head dismissively. "You can't just ask random friends of mine to be my date-" she cut herself off with a sigh, looking at their perplexed faces, "Now she's feeling obliged to say yes, and who says Waverly even wants to go away from Alberta for four days and be my date to a family party?"

"But she just said that she would," Albert replied, sound thoroughly confused.

Marie added, sounding equally as confused. "And why wouldn't she, hm? You're beautiful, Nicki."

Waverly brushed her fingers lightly against Nicole's cheek, "You really are, Nicki," she whispered, trying out the Haughts' nickname for the redhead. Nicole couldn't say she didn't like the sound of it rolling off the younger woman's tongue. Never minding the fact that Waverly essentially just called her beautiful in front of her parents.

"Well that doesn't mean that she-" Nicole cut herself off once more, ignoring the flutters in her stomach and the confusion in her head. It seemed like everything was flutters and confusion these days.

Marie continued, having apparently decided that today was the day she was going to kill her youngest daughter from embarrassment. "Waverly, are you a lesbian, too?"

"Ma!" Nicole objected, and it seemed like Albert thought that his wife had overstepped with this one as well, because at the same time, he said, "Marie!"

"What?" Marie questioned, and to her defence she sounded clueless about the problem.

Nicole shook her head, red hair whipping around her shoulders. "You don't just ask people that," she said.

Waverly gingerly placed a hand on top of hers, silently informing her that it was okay, even though Nicole thought that it wasn't, like, at all. "I'm bisexual, actually," she told Marie, as a smile appeared on her face, wrinkles tugging at the corners of her green eyes.

"Well if she likes women, then I just don't see why she wouldn't want to be your date for our anniversary, Nicki," Marie said as she shook her head to prove her point. To her, that just didn't make any sense, and Nicole got that – to her it actually wouldn't make much sense either, except Waverly had just accepted the proposition to be her date, even though she wasn't remotely interested in Nicole as a lover. But friends could be dates, right? At least that would have been Nicole's last resolve with Eliza, too.

Offering her parents a sheepish grin, Waverly said, "I will be your daughter's date, Mrs. Haught," she promised, forehead crinkling in that adorable way of hers, "and I can quite honestly say that I'm growing quite fond of her, even though we've just started our friendship. She's a very special person," she finished, before looking up at Nicole through her long lashes; a look that held such fondness that Nicole felt her breath literally stop in her throat.

Albert smiled at them both, Nicole could just make it out from the corner of her eyes; eyes that were still focused entirely on Waverly's green ones, even if her parents were right there on the screen. "Thank you, Waverly," he said, before turning to his wife. "And we better go now, right honey?"

"Sure we do," Marie added, nodding her head, "We'll talk to you soon, Nicki," she promised.

Clearing her throat, Nicole had to force herself to look away from Waverly's beautiful face. She hated that the other woman had this stupid affect on her, she hated, hated, hated it. Because Waverly wasn't supposed to make her not want to look away, and she most definitely wasn't supposed to get her heart beating madly in her chest, not like she had been doing lately. She turned her head and offered her parents a goofy grin. "Sure Ma, I love you loads, OK?"

"Love you loads," her parents chorused, before the screen went blank.

Nicole forced her breath to calm down as she stared at the screen, telling herself that she needed to stay cool and not let Waverly show just how much that Skype-conversation had affected her. She closed her eyes briefly, before tilting her head to the side and looking at Waverly. "I'm sorry 'bout that," she whispered, licking her lips and daring to meet the other woman's eyes, "they can be a little... enthusiastic."

Waverly slipped off the barstool then, leaning herself against the counter, "Honestly, they seem super nice, Nicole," she whispered, and there was not a doubt in Nicole's mind that Waverly was being truthful about this. "You don't need to apologise like, at all," she finished, as she reached for one the containers from the take-out bag.

Nicole breathed a sigh of relief. "Really?"

"Yeah," Waverly promised as she pushed a container towards Nicole. "So," she stated, "Thai and then back to cramming?"

"Definitely," Nicole promised, before she reached for the offered fork and dug right into her meal. Once more, the thought of how much she could get used to this, flew through her mind, but she pushed it away and decided that that wouldn't make her feel any better at all.

Even if the pictures conjured up in her mind appeared utterly perfect and everything she'd ever wanted.

* * *

If you're reading this, please drop off a review. It's greatly appreciated!


	8. Chapter Eight: Those Damn Earp Girls

**CHAPTER EIGHT: THOSE DAMN EARP GIRLS**

Nicole was just making her way through the crowded hallways of the main building on campus when she got a text from Nathaniel. She didn't open it immediately, because she was in dire need of coffee before her two o'clock lecture, and she knew that Dolls would be as well. It was kind of their thing; she always brought coffee, and then they tried to stay awake together through three hours of Psychology.

As she got in line for the coffee stand (there were so many students at this hour), she opened the text her older brother had sent her. It held seven words, but they were enough to annoy her because her parents were simply being too pushy.

 _Nathaniel Haught (1:43 PM): Who's this chick mom keeps yapping about?_

Actually, Nicole felt so annoyed that she plugged her headphones into the phone and pressed it to call her brother. While it rang, she grabbed two plastic cups and patiently waited for her brother to pick up. As soon as she did, she spluttered at him, "What the fuck, Nate?"

Several heads turned her way, confused by the sudden outburst. She smiled politely and reached to fill the plastic cups.

"Hello to you too, little sister," Nathaniel replied, and there was a low chuckle on his lips.

Nicole juggled the coffee cups and moved to stand in line, waiting to pay for the liquid caffein. "What did mom say? I swear…"

She didn't get to say what she swore to do, because Nathaniel interrupted her. Which was probably better at this point, because then Nicole wouldn't swear to do something she wouldn't actually do. "No you won't, dear Nicki," he teased her, "Calm down, OK?"

"What did she say to you?" Nicole demanded him to tell her, shifting from one foot to another. Maybe Nathaniel was just trying to mess with her and her mother hadn't said much, or maybe she actually had. Either way, Nicole was annoyed.

Nathaniel laughed. "Relax, kiddo," she told her, a sigh escaping his lips (God, Nicole hated it when he called her kiddo, and he very well knew that), "She just said something about a Waverly who's apparently very sweet, and very pretty, and is going to be your date for their anniversary?"

Sighing, Nicole finally reached the front of the line. She placed the cups on the counter and smiled apologetically to the woman behind the cash register. She wouldn't usually be one of those busy people who couldn't even let their phone down for one second, but right now she had to let go of her principles. "That woman!" Nicole murmured beneath her breath, handing over a bill and grabbing the two cups to move towards the lecture hall. She still had a good ten minutes to get there.

"Well, do spill," Nathaniel prodded her on.

"It's nothing," Nicole sighed, slowing down her pace and shuffling further, "It's just-" she bit her lip, wondering how to explain it to her brother, "Waverly is a friend of mine, OK? We hang out. But because she's into women, Ma saw it is an excuse to plan our wedding already," she offered him the simple version, not sure whether or not he could hear the doubt in her voice and how she was probably not telling him the entire truth. But she was better at bullshitting him than she was Nadine, so maybe she would get away with it.

Nathaniel chuckled. "Well, apparently this Waverly person charmed and amused our parents to no end," he explained, "I mean, even Paps threw in a word or two, and you know how he can be with our partners."

Nicole knew that it could be hard to please Albert Haught in regards to boyfriends or girlfriends; no one was hardly ever deemed good enough for his kids, so if he'd praised Waverly then she must have really charmed her way in before Nicole returned with the food. "Yeah, sure," she grunted, turning left and moving towards the lecture hall. She thought she saw the back of Dolls' bald head a few feet in front of her. "But like, what did they say about her?" Nicole questioned then, curiosity getting the better of her.

"Just what a sweetheart she was," Nathaniel told her, "and she's apparently very tiny, but also very beautiful, and that uh," he stopped, probably contemplating whether or not to say the next part.

Nicole sighed. "What, Nate?"

"…and that you looked at her with your heart eyes," he finished, and Nicole swore he was struggling to hold back a roar of laughter.

She spluttered. "What!? I do not!"

Nathaniel said, "Well, don't yell at me, I'm just retelling things as they were said," he argued, but he was entirely too amused about this to Nicole's liking.

The redhead moved through the doorway to the lecture hall and could see Dolls already at their usual seats; a few rows from the back and to the left. She started taking the stairs. "Well, I don't have heart eyes," she argued as she came to a stop in front of Dolls, placing the coffees on the table. "And tell Ma and Paps to lay off, will you?"

Nathaniel sighed. "Sure thing, sis, but don't think we're done talking about this girl," he warned her.

"Bye Nate," Nicole huffed, ripping her earphone out of her ear and slamming the phone onto the table. She threw her backpack down on the spare chair and discarded her jacket there as well, before falling into her regular seat beside Dolls. She was huffing and puffing, trying to boil down her anger.

Dolls was watching her with careful eyes, an expectant yet confused look on his face. He was already nursing his coffee; his laptop was open in front of him, ready to take notes. "What-?"

Nicole cut him off. "Don't even ask."

—-

Nicole hadn't _seen_ Waverly since Monday when she attended a meeting at the LGBTQIA Society, but she'd _talked_ to Waverly once on Wednesday ("Nicole, do you think I should wear my hair in two braids or one?"), and _texted_ with her everyday. Nicole wasn't going to lie, it felt a lot like something.

But then again, it had felt like something since the very first time she laid eyes on Waverly that Friday at Shorty's. And it was stupid, Nicole knew it was stupid. Which was why she'd decided not to go to quiz night on Wednesday and not call Waverly back the two other times she'd called.

She was just taking precautions. Because it sure felt like something, but she was also very aware of the fact that it was definitely nothing.

But it was Friday after all, and so she did find herself stepping into Shorty's for beer with Dolls and Eliza. And Wynonna. And Doc, probably. Rosita was working this weekend, and Taylor and Jeremy were at the bar, ordering pink drinks that she was already shaking up. They all gave her a nod in greeting, Rosita's not even as standoffish as usual.

Nicole stepped up to the bar, only briefly wondering where Waverly was at this fine Friday, but deciding that she didn't actually need to know that. She leaned herself against the bar and watched Rosita pour the pink drink into two tall glasses. "Can I get a beer after?"

Rosita's shimmery lips curled into a smile. "Sure thing, Haught," she replied, finishing off the two glasses with a lime and a straw in each. "There you go. Pink Panthers for everybody."

Jeremy took a sip of his instantly. "Thanks Rosie, you're the bomb."

Taylor was a bit more sceptical as they leaned forward, a suspicious look in their eyes behind the round glasses. "Hmm," their dark lips curled around the straw, "it's drinkable," they concluded, and Jeremy's brown eyes lit up in happiness.

"Yes," he cheered and did a dorky dance.

Nicole couldn't hide her chuckle just as Rosita placed a bottle of beer in front of her. "Thanks," she muttered, offering the other woman a small smile. She was trying really hard to be some kind of friends with Rosita and it seemed like, at some times, Rosita was trying as well. "By the way, I know you couldn't come last Sunday, 'cause you finished all your work, but next time Waverly and I cram together, you're more than welcome," she offered, reaching a finger out and running it over the label on the bottle.

Rosita paused, brow furrowed in confusion. "What?"

Licking her lips, Nicole elaborated. "You know, like, last Sunday, when Waverly and I studied?" She offered, brown eyes meeting the other woman's, "She said that you were all done with yours, but it'd be cool if we all crammed together next time…" she trailed off when she realised that Rosita's confusion didn't disappear, but that she, on the other hand, got a frown on her face.

"I wasn't finished," she said, dropping the dish towel from over her shoulder to the surface of the bar. "Waverly bailed on me, and I ended up studying at home by myself," she finished, and the frown on her face only grew bigger.

Nicole shifted awkwardly on her feet. "What?" She was confused. She'd very clearly told Waverly to invite Rosita as well, she'd actually made a point of that. Sure, if she was being honest, she would probably have enjoyed the day less if Rosita had been there, because she had this urge to spend time alone with Waverly, but she was also trying to make nice. Hence the invitation. "I told Waverly you should both come. She said you were all done?"

Rosita's lips tightened; very clearly there was something she wanted to say (or perhaps a certain someone she wanted to curse at), and she was trying to restrain herself. "Oh," she said, brown eyes boring deeply into Nicole's.

There was no need to say anything else; it was pretty clear to both of them what had occurred. Nicole had extended her hand, but Waverly had wanted to spend time with her alone. This fact pleased Nicole, although she should probably not feel that way. There wasn't time to contemplate the meaning behind Waverly's actions right now though; it was more urgent with a bit of damage control. "Look Rosita," she begun, even though she knew that all of her excuses would be futile, "she probably misunderstood something I said, yeah? Or something you said, I mean, I swear, I was being clear, but you never know…"

Holding up a finger, Rosita silently ordered her to stop talking. Her apple cheeks were red - probably from anger - and her high pony tail dangled as she shook her head. "Don't even," she began, one eyebrow raising, "We both know Waverly just wanted to hang out with you alone. It's fine," she sighed, hand dropping to the table, tongue darting out to wet her lips. "She should have just told me. No need to lie," she whispered, before she turned on her heel and moved to the other end of the bar, busying herself with drying off some glasses.

Nicole couldn't help but let her eyes linger on Rosita's back. She knew they hadn't really become friends, which - honestly - she deemed Rosita's fault because she'd been hostile since day one, but she couldn't help but feel sad for the other woman. So many things about Rosita's relationship with Waverly was starting to make sense, and Nicole couldn't help but think that maybe the other woman wasn't entirely over their mutual friend. Waverly had probably hurt Rosita way more than Rosita led on, way more that even Waverly herself was aware of. The redhead had a feeling that Rosita was going through some stuff right now.

She vowed then and there to make an even bigger effort to befriend Rosita.

Jeremy lowly whistled, which caused Nicole to turn her head back to look at him and Taylor. "Whew, that was awkward," he commented, nodding his head and sipping his drink.

Nicole's throat tightened and she clutched her beer harder.

Taylor turned to their partner. "Shut up, Jeremy," they said, even if their brown eyes were filled with love for the man across from them.

Eyes wavering, Jeremy said, "Yeah."

"Let's try to talk to Rosita about the upcoming demo, OK?" Taylor suggested, and they moved down the bar, Jeremy following right after.

Nicole turned on the barstool. She knew she should probably be mad at Waverly for the lies and for not being honest about Rosita, but she couldn't honestly get herself to think too much about it right now. Waverly wasn't even there. She just needed to drink her beer and hang out with her friends. So, she slipped of the barstool and moved across the room to the table where Doc, Wynonna, Eliza and Dolls were gathered. They were playing a game of cards, and Doc appeared to be winning big - especially taking Eliza's scowl into account.

"Red, come sit with me," Wynonna bemoaned, padding the spare chair next to her. She had a certain glint in her eyes, and her wild mane seemed even more unruly than usual. It appeared to Nicole that she might have partaken in a certain... activity... not that long ago. Question was just – was that activity with Dolls or Doc?

Sliding onto the chair, Nicole nudged Wynonna with her elbow. "You have bed hair," she whispered into her ear, while the other three around the table seemed busy discussing whether or not Eliza had engaged in foul play.

Wynonna raised an eyebrow, challenging her, "Yeah? And you don't," she childishly retorted.

Nicole rolled her eyes. "Made up your mind yet?" She fired back, knowing very well that Wynonna would know what she was talking about. She wasn't quite sure what her deal was, Nicole just knew that she didn't want Dolls to get hurt in this situation. Doc, she didn't know, but he seemed like a nice guy, so she probably wouldn't like it if he got hurt either. But especially not Dolls. Dolls was her guy.

Eliza butted in, "Made up your mind about what?"

"About which game of cards I'm going to beat you at," Wynonna fired back. She offered Nicole a wink, before she reached forward and gathered all the cards on the table into a pile.

Nicole wasn't sure how long they were playing cards or how many times she lost to either Doc or Wynonna, but at some point, she looked up to the bar, only to discover that Waverly had entered – it appeared to be a little while ago – and she was sitting near the bar, chatting with a beautiful blonde woman.

The redhead felt herself do a doubletake, even if she didn't want to; the woman had long dirty blonde hair. She was tall, probably almost as tall as Nicole herself, because she towered over Waverly on the barstool. She had striking features, wearing a tight blouse and a skirt with high heels, and she was nursing a drink. It looked like a gin & tonic, but Nicole couldn't be sure from this distance. Actually, she probably shouldn't care, but she couldn't help but see how happy Waverly appeared to be, talking to this woman Nicole had never seen or heard of before.

Rosita was eyeing them too, but Nicole couldn't be sure whether or not it was because she was sizing this woman up (much like Nicole herself had just been doing, if she was being totally honest with herself), or if it was because she was still fuming, pissed off at Waverly for that stunt she'd just learned about. Nicole wouldn't blame her for either.

Just then, the blonde woman must have said something extremely funny, because Waverly broke into a fit of giggles, practically falling over on her barstool. The blonde woman grabbed her, tugged her closer, and the two of them laughed together.

Nicole felt her heart thud in her chest. She didn't like the feeling that was slowly overtaking her body, and furthermore she didn't like the images her mind was conjuring up. Was Waverly on a date right now? And if she was, why did it bother Nicole so much to think that she was? She didn't want to think of Waverly being on a date with a beautiful blonde woman, who was also tall, and way more feminine presenting that Nicole usually was.

She raised a hand absentmindedly, touching the shade of her cap. No. No, now was _not_ the time to start doubting herself on whether or not Waverly was attracted to her. One, because it simply didn't matter if Waverly was attracted to her (at least it _shouldn't_ matter), and two, she very well knew that Waverly _was_ attracted to her. That had been evident since the first time they met each other, since they slept together, and sometimes Nicole felt like it was still quite evident in the way that Waverly looked at her, acted around her, even if it wasn't supposed to be evident at all.

Then why did it even bother her so much if Waverly was on a date? It shouldn't. It really, totally shouldn't. Actually, Nicole hated that it did. So that was why she decided right there that she wouldn't let it. Her and Waverly were friends. Despite everything, she'd decided that she wanted to be friends with the other woman, so that was what they were going to be. And friends didn't get bothered by such things. Nope. Friends were happy when friends were on dates. So, Nicole turned her head away, even if she was aware of every movement Waverly did by the bar, and focused on the game with her friends. She wasn't going to let it bother her.

She was going to drink beer, play cards and have fun. And tomorrow she was going to figure out what exactly she was going to do about the surge of emotions running through her, because she'd just come to the realisation that she couldn't just ignore them. They were way to dominant to be ignored.

"On a _date_?" Eliza spat, venom lacing her tongue as she huffed and puffed beside Nicole, sweat trailing over her forehead. The baby hairs were sticking to her skin, a true testament to the workout they were engaging in.

Nicole curtly nodded, punching the stupid, blue punching bag, going back to her stance, only to punch it again. "Yeah," she groaned, sweat dripping down her forehead as well. It stung her eyes, but she couldn't really do much about it because her hands were wrapped in her gloves.

Dolls – who was alternating between their bags to support both of them – looked confused. "Are you sure though?"

Nicole nodded, before ripping the punching bag a new one. She breathed out. "It sure looked like a date to me. They were being all chummy and stuff."

Dropping his stance from behind the bag, Dolls breathed out. "But isn't Waverly always chummy and stuff?" He asked her, the word 'chummy' sounded foreign on his lips. "I know I haven't spent that much time with her, but Wynonna says that she's a sweetheart."

"Something Wynonna is _not_ ," Eliza butted in, nodding her head towards her own punching bag. "You gonna spot me?"

Dolls took a step to the left.

Nicole unwrapped her hands from the gloves; the first one by using her teeth to slip the velcro off, the second one using her freed hand. She brushed strays of dripping wet red hair out of her face before grabbing her water bottle. "I just realised that I care way too much about whether she's on a date or not," she told them, before craning her neck back and downing half the water bottle in one go. She had to wipe her chin afterwards, because she had managed to spill a little.

Eliza managed to huff out an answer, even though she was using all of her strength at the moment, seemingly trying to kill Dolls through the punching bag. "That's because," she breathed, "you _love_ her," she finished, teasingly.

Nicole didn't love Waverly, but she was painfully aware of the fact that she could very well get there if she wasn't careful. "I don't," she proclaimed, drinking more water while squinting her eyes against the sting of sweat. "But I don't know, I think I need to stop myself from becoming too invested," she bit her lip, turning to look at Dolls, "What do you think?"

Dolls shrugged. "Just take care of yourself, Nic," he said, using all of his strength to spot Eliza's relentless punches, "I mean, if you need space from her before you can be friends, then take some space, yeah? I don't want you to get hurt."

Dropping her stance, Eliza stood up straight. "I just don't understand," she said, sticking her hands out, thus demanding for Nicole to take off her gloves, "why you even slept together in the first place? Didn't her friends even tell you not to go there?"

If there was one thing Nicole hated, it was when Eliza was right and this moment she was proving a very valid point. The redhead ripped off her friend's gloves and threw them on the ground. "Because I wanted to, OK? When we went out that night I just couldn't help myself - I wanted so badly to take her home, and I quickly realised that she wanted the same thing, so I just went ahead and did it anyway, and it was..." She stopped talking, not sure if she could explain to her friends exactly how it was that Waverly had made her feel. She wasn't even sure if she could explain it to herself. Being with Waverly like that had been like... being home.

Eliza grabbed her own water bottle and took a long gulp of it. "You're fucking stupid, Nic," she said then, stretching her back and her arms, and looking at Nicole like she was a little child. "You're just getting over Shae, yeah? So why go there and be sad again."

Dolls grabbed Nicole's water bottle and flipped it open. "Sometimes it's hard not to," he said, shrugging his shoulders, "even if you know it's a dumb idea."

Nicole couldn't help but feel like maybe he was having some of the same troubles with Wynonna as she was having with Waverly. What was it with those damn Earp girls? Her and Dolls really needed to get their heads on straight.

He downed the rest of her water bottle. "But take care of yourself, Nic," he said to her, his brown eyes sincerely watching her.

Eliza grabbed her towel and wiped her entire face with it. "You're both idiots," she commented drily.

Punching her friend lightly on the arm, Nicole retorted. "Why don't you find a person to occupy your time with? So as you don't need to worry about our disastrous love lives," she finished.

"Not a person, gal or guy, have caught my interest these days," Eliza fired back, raising an eyebrow and challenging Nicole to say something else back to her.

Nicole didn't bite. "Yeah, yeah," she shrugged, "but we agree then, yeah?" She wanted to know, and when they blinked at her, not sure what they were agreeing to, she continued, "That maybe I should stop spending so much time with Waverly?"

Dolls wrapped an arm around her, tugging her into a half-armed hug. "Do what you gotta do, Nic," he said, and this was probably the most affectionate Nicole ever experienced him, which evidently meant that this was a sort of serious situation. She squeezed him back, enjoying the sentiment.

Nicole then nodded, biting her lip and contemplating her options. She couldn't say that she liked the idea of limiting her time with Waverly, simply because she didn't want to. On the contrary she wanted to spend all the time possible with the other woman. But she also knew that she needed to do something – perhaps she should even download Tinder just to get a date or something – to get her mind off of Waverly. It might feel like Waverly was flirting with her, wanting to spend a lot of time with her, touching her often even – but Waverly was also just a very attentive, caring person so that could mean nothing. Even if they _had_ slept together. No, Nicole really needed to start taking care of herself in this situation. Especially with the way she had acted yesterday at Shorty's.

It appeared that it was time for her to get Waverly Earp entirely out of her system. But how the hell was she going to do that? Nicole had absolutely no idea.


	9. Chapter Nine: Vegan Ice Cream

**CHAPTER NINE: VEGAN ICE CREAM**

Somehow, on Tuesday, Nicole found herself squeezed in between Taylor and Jeremy on Jeremy's twin bed, eating ice cream from four different tubs and watching some kind of Blue Planet program on Netflix.

She couldn't quite explain how it happened, but she'd happened upon the couple in the library when she had been looking for a much needed book for her essay, and she'd quite literally run into Jeremy, who'd been searching the shelves for some kind of book on chemistry (Nicole had no idea what that entailed, but it sounded very smart when he'd started to ramble on about it) and Taylor had been trailing behind him, looking absolutely bored of their mind.

So when Jeremy had commented that Nicole perhaps looked a little bleak, Taylor had jumped at the opportunity to suggest they do something else entirely. And Nicole really did have to start her essay, but she wasn't particularly feeling up for it, so she had agreed with Taylor, and now there they were, watching animal programmes on Jeremy's small tv.

"Can I have the Coffee Caramel Fudge?" Taylor nudged Nicole with the end of their spoon, whispering lowly as to not disturb Jeremy, who was absolutely enthralled by the white shark on his screen.

Nicole had never tasted vegan ice cream before, but she was quite pleased with Ben & Jerry's different kinds. "Sure, if I can have the Chunky Monkey one?" She replied, switching tubs with Taylor and digging her spoon into the delicious cold treat. She stuffed the spoon back into her mouth, savouring the taste. She hadn't really known it, but apparently this kind of afternoon was exactly what she needed.

Sure, she could work out all of her pent-up frustrations with Dolls and Eliza, but they weren't exactly the binge-eat ice cream types. That, she found out, was entirely Jeremy and Taylor's expertise. It was oddly comforting, even if she didn't know the couple very well, to lay there between them, closely tugged together, watching a programme on great white sharks. Right now the show was focusing on what kind of prey the great whites liked to eat, and Nicole had a funny feeling that Jeremy wouldn't like the next part of the show that much. There were sweet baby seals frolicking on the island nearby the shark.

Jeremy raised a hand to hide his eyes, loudly squealing, "No little baby seal, no!"

Taylor squinted their eyes at their partner, reaching over Nicole to tug his hands away from his eyes. "Poor baby seals, Jer," they said, nodded encouragingly, "Can I have the Chocolate Fudge Brownie?"

Sticking his tongue out at them, Jeremy handed over the tub and reached to pause the program. "I don't wanna watch the murder," he commented, and Nicole awkwardly padded his head. She couldn't help but find his unique Jeremy-ness very adorable.

"There, there," she said, shooting him a dimpled smile.

Jeremy sighed heavily before turning to her with a cheeky grin, "Can we talk about you now then?"

Sitting slightly up on the bed, Taylor rested their head on their bent arm and offered Nicole a pointed look. "Yeah Nic, what's up?" They asked, slipping their spoon to rest between their lips as they discarded two tubs of ice cream on the bedside table. They dropped the spoon on top of them. "You uh, you've been acting a bit off? People have been talking."

Groaning, Nicole pulled herself up, so that her back was resting against the wall. She plopped the spoon into the tub of Chunky Monkey and sloshed the mostly melted ice cream around as she stared at it. She didn't really feel like talking, but she had a funny inkling that they weren't going to let her not talk. So yeah, she probably had to. "People? Really?" She questioned, eyeing them suspiciously through a curtain of her red hair.

Jeremy rolled his eyes. "People. Me or Taylor. Whatever," he commented, sitting up as well and crossing his legs in front of him. "Just spill."

Taylor urged her to talk, looking at her carefully through their round glasses. Nicole let spoon and ice cream be and settled herself further against the wall. "It's just," she paused, searching for the words, "Waverly's just been confusing me, that's all," she chose to say, licking her lips with her tongue.

In honesty, it was not only Waverly who had been confusing her, but her lingering conversation with Shae had been frustrating her. She hadn't had time to go by and pick up her stuff yet, and Shae was getting more and more impatient. Nicole just didn't have the energy to deal with it right now, and therefore her replies to her ex-girlfriend had been short and less than thorough. She knew she was going to have to deal with it soon, but she had so many other things on her mind right now. Shae was not pleased about this.

Running a hand over their bald head, Taylor said, "Well, we did warn you about going down _that_ road," they said, raising an eyebrow and shooting her a pointed glare, "But now that it's happened, Jeremy and I talked, and we've decided to become supporters of Wayhaught."

"Wayhaught?" Nicole questioned, looking between the two of them.

"Waverly Earp and Nicole Haught," Jeremy explained quickly, as if she was particularly stupid for not realising this on her own, " _Wayhaught_ ," he said.

Taylor continued, "Yeah, and even though we were warning you off, now we've decided to urge you on. You and Waverly? That's a pretty damn good idea," they finished, smiling supportingly at Nicole. "But yeah? What's happening? Waverly's been… sulking."

Nicole's head perked up at that choice of words. "Sulking?"

Jeremy nodded eagerly. "Yeah! She didn't say it, but she was annoyed that you didn't show up to the meeting yesterday, and she was going on about how she hasn't seen you in _ages_ ," he explained, nodding his head to himself.

Nicole bit her lip, contemplating what all of that might mean. Her heart told her to be happy, that this was a sign that Waverly liked her too, missed her even, but her brain told her that Waverly was trying to have her cake and eat it, too. And Nicole didn't want to be a part of that, she didn't want to let her. "Well, if she wants to see me, then maybe she shouldn't act like such a…" she trailed off, not quite sure what word to describe Waverly with, because she didn't want to call her something she didn't actually mean, even though she did find Waverly very confusing at the moment. What was Waverly even? Hard-headed? Stubborn? Nicole wasn't quite sure.

"…such a what?" Taylor prodded her on.

Jeremy added, "Such a wonderfully confusing ray of sunshine?"

Rolling her eyes, Nicole stretched her feet out in front of her, letting them tangle in the mass of sheets by the foot of Jeremy's bed. "Confusing is definitely accurate," she commented, watching her purple fluffy socks carefully.

Taylor hummed in contemplation. "Waverly doesn't know what's good for her, and she probably is the sweetest person I've ever known, but she also makes very bad decisions," they said, nodding their head, "I mean - she doesn't know what's good for her. Everybody else can clearly see it, you know."

"See what?" Nicole questioned.

"How much you care about her," Taylor replied, pushing their glasses up the bridge of their nose. Those glasses had a tendency to slide down often.

Jeremy nodded his head in agreement. "But did anything else happen between you?"

Nicole shrugged. So many things had happened, but not anything in the way the two of them thought. They hadn't kissed or slept together, not after that one time. And Waverly had made it quite clear that it wasn't going to happen again after that, so what could Nicole really do? She just had to go with it, even if Waverly's actions said differently. "No," she bemoaned, childishly, "we hung out the other Sunday, cramming and stuff, and it was all very nice and…" she trailed off, "just _nice_."

Shooting her a quizzical look, Jeremy said, "When she and Rosita were supposed to study?"

Nicole hummed in agreement. She wasn't sure how much either Rosita or Waverly had spoken about it to their mutual friend, but it seemed like Jeremy was on the road to figuring it out by himself anyway. Waverly probably hadn't told anybody, because that would make her look exceptionally bad, but maybe Rosita had resorted to keeping silent as well? Nicole wondered why.

"But Waverly studied with you?" Jeremy continued to question her, clearly confused.

Taylor sat up on the bed then, grabbing the last two forgotten tubs of melted ice cream only to place them on the nightstand with the other two discarded tubs. They poked Nicole in the thigh. "So Rosita found out, and that's why she's been in such a foul mood these days?"

A light seemed to dawn on Jeremy. "Oh!"

Nicole shrugged once more, fingering a loose hem in her plaid shirt absentmindedly, while she tried to stay on top of their conversation. Her jeans were feeling a little tight at the moment, after eating ice cream all afternoon. Maybe she ought to call this pity-party quits and go have a run or something? She just didn't have the _energy_. She looked up in surprise when the string between her fingers snapped.

"Hey," Taylor said then, reaching a hand out to brush it over Nicole's gently. Their dark fingers contrasted beautifully against Nicole's pale ones. "Don't be sad, Nic, alright?" They continued with sincerity, brown eyes almost flooding over with warmth, "I get why you're probably feeling really shitty and pissed off at Waverly, but…" they trailed off, searching for a second for the right words to say. "Give her some time, OK? You know she's been through some tough shit, and I know that doesn't excuse her acting like a real jerk, but she's just - she's just-"

Jeremy butted in, "-protecting herself," he finished, encouragingly nodding his head. "That doesn't mean you should just wait around and take it though!" He enthusiastically added.

Nicole eyed him quizzically, "I have been thinking about making a Tinder…" she trailed off, not quite sure if that was what he was hinting at. She'd actually done more than just think about it; last night, when she'd been cuddling with Calamity Jane on the sofa, she'd come as far as to download the app. She hadn't opened it yet, hadn't made a profile, but she'd downloaded it, and that was a huge step. She'd been briefly on Tinder, before meeting Shae, but she'd never really spent much time on it. It felt weird though, to start chatting up other girls when there was really only one girl she was interested in. Logically she knew that it was probably a smart step for her to take; to get out there, meet some people, have some fun. That didn't mean it felt entirely right though.

"There you go!" Taylor happily applauded her, reaching for Nicole's cell phone which she had discarded on the floor, by her jacket and rucksack, earlier. They threw it at the redhead, wriggling their eyebrows suggestively, "So now we're doing it! We're gonna get you a date, Nicole!"

Jeremy forced the phone into her hands, and his encouraging nod was all it took for Nicole to become convinced as well. It probably wouldn't hurt, right? Then Waverly could find someone else to sleep with and confuse. Nicole unlocked her phone and found the application. She bit her lip and stared with worry at her two friends - because she very well would like to call them that by now; one does simply not spend an entire afternoon sharing ice cream tubs on a twin bed with two people without becoming friends.

"What?" Taylor questioned, as they sat down besides Nicole, shoulder against shoulder.

"I haven't really tried this before," Nicole honestly replied, biting her lip. "I'm not sure… what to do."

Jeremy eagerly grabbed the phone from her, situating himself on her other side, "I was on Tinder," he explained, "before I met Taylor," he nodded his head towards his partner, a fond smile on his face. "I'm not saying I scored a lot of dates, but that might have something to do with my nerdiness and nothing do to with my Tinder game, which is solid, by the way," he assured her, as his fingers deftly moved over the screen on the phone, adding information on her. "How old are you?"

"26," Nicole replied, her brown eyes watching his movements carefully.

"Do you have any good selfies?" Taylor wanted to know then. They were squeezed tightly up against Nicole's side, slightly leaned over to see the screen, and their glasses brushed against Nicole's nose. "Sorry," they apologised, flashing a toothy grin.

Nicole rubbed her nose. "Does selfies with Calamity Jane count?" She wondered aloud.

Taylor frowned. "Who's Calamity Jane?"

"My cat," Nicole tossed them a cheeky grin, and Jeremy piped up at the new information.

"Those selfies do _so_ count," he nodded enthusiastically, not looking up from the phone as he started scrolling through her camera roll (she really hoped that he could ignore the most embarrassing of photos and not tease her for it), "Cats are so lesbian, you can get dates with that," he paused, clicking on a picture where she had CJ right near her face and they both looked adorable with their red fur and hair, "Oh, it's so fluffy I'm gonna die!"

Taylor broke into a deep laugh, reaching over to grab the phone from Jeremy. "Oh shit, that's one giant cat!" They proclaimed, eyes turning wide as they looked up at Nicole.

The redhead awkwardly brushed a piece of hair out of her face and grabbed her phone out of Taylor's hand, "Just pick a photo of me with my cap on," she sheepishly sighed, as she tried to find a decent photo that might get _some_ girl to ask her for a cup of coffee or something. It didn't have to be a lot, just something would be nice. It was a long time since she'd been on a date.

Taylor opened their mouth to say something, but was cut off by the sound of the door slamming open in the joined kitchen and living room. Jeremy was about to roll out of bed to check out what Rosita - because it was probably Rosita, she did live there too after all - was up to, but stopped in his tracks when the sound of two sets of footsteps echoed through the apartment. Taylor raised a finger to their lips, signalling for them to be quiet.

"- _not_ believe you have the nerve, Waverly!" Rosita finished. She wasn't yelling, but her voice was raised, and she did not sound pleased at all. Actually, she sounded quite angry.

Nicole gulped and shared a look with the other two occupants of the room. She had a feeling that they were just about to bear witness to some kind of argument, or perhaps even fight, between Waverly and Rosita, and she wasn't quite sure if she was comfortable with that. She didn't want to listen in, but she also did not want to be the one to slip out of Jeremy's room right now and interrupt whatever was going on.

Waverly's voice sounded displeased as well, but it wasn't raised, and she actually sounded a lot more dejected. "Well, I never pretended to be something I was not, OK, Rosie?" She said, and Nicole could just picture her, with her hands on her hips and that determined look in her green eyes. "I've been honest from the start with you - about my feelings, about my thoughts and where I stand."

Taylor slipped off the bed then, tiptoeing across the floor. They gently grabbed the door handle on the door, slipping it into the doorway. The small click when it closed was barely audible, and Nicole figured that it was just a precaution to close the door; Waverly and Rosita appeared to be in the common room, but just in case they moved to Rosita's room - which was pass Jeremy's - it was a good thing that the door was closed, otherwise they would realise that they weren't alone in the apartment.

Rosita's voice still came through the closed door, clear as day, when she replied. "Well, that just takes away all of your responsibility then, doesn't it?" She questioned, and menace was lacing her every word, "You were _honest_ , you were _clear_ , so yeah, why didn't I just stop it then?"

Nicole was pretty sure that she was being sarcastic, and she also had a very good feeling what this fight was about. She couldn't help but think that maybe the revelation Rosita had come to last weekend might have something to do with this; maybe the truth about Waverly's lies had kickstarted this entire argument. She shouldn't be feeling guilty about Rosita's wounds at the moment, because it wasn't her who had done her wrong. Apparently Rosita believed that Waverly should take some of the blame as well.

"You _did_ , Rosie," Waverly said then, at her voice was soft suddenly, quivering, and Nicole had to strain to hear her further reply, "you did stop it, yeah? And I'm sorry you ever got hurt, it was never my intention, and you _must_ know that," she softly beckoned.

There was a stretch of silence, and Nicole could picture two of the most hard-headed women she had ever known, as they stared each other down.

"I know," Rosita finally replied then, her voice streaming down the hallway from the common area. "I know that, OK, Waves? It's just…"

"It's just what?" Waverly softly replied, and Nicole scooted off the bed, inching closer to the door, joining Taylor there, so she could hear better. She bit her lip, hating herself for being the eavesdropping kind right now, but she couldn't help it. She was too invested in this conversation at the moment.

When Rosita finally replied, her voice sounded defeated. "It's just that lately I've been feeling really shitty about it, because of-" she stopped talking then, and Nicole could feel her heartbeat speed up, suddenly very afraid of what the next words out of Rosita's mouth were going to be.

Waverly softly prodded her on, "Because of what?"

"Because of Nicole," Rosita finally replied, and Nicole felt both Jeremy and Taylor turn to her with questioning looks. She pointedly ignored them, staring intensely at a crack in the floor. Oh, how she wished she could just stroll right out of there and back to her own apartment.

"What does Nicole have to do with anything?" Waverly asked then, and she did sound confused. Like she had absolutely no idea what Rosita could possibly be talking about. Nicole wondered if Waverly truly was so clueless as to not spot the similarities. Maybe she was just too caught up in her own head.

"You're an idiot," Rosita retorted, and suddenly their steps were coming down the hallway, both of them, if Nicole could tell correctly. "Like I don't see the look on your face whenever it's something about her? Like I don't know why you lied to me last weekend? Waverly, I'm not stupid," she replied, as they came to a halt, stopping what felt like right outside of the door to Jeremy's bedroom.

Taylor's eyes turned wide behind their glasses, and the three of them held their breaths accordingly. Nicole's heart was positively trying to beat its way out of her chest, and to her it sounded like everybody had to be able to hear it clearly.

Waverly's voice was soft when she replied to Rosita; it very clearly came from right on the other side of the door. "Rosie, I don't think you're stupid. I just don't get why Nicole needs to become a part of this argument."

Rosita loudly groaned. "Because you fucking like her, that's why," she argued, "and the look on your face right now says it all."

"You're lying," Waverly childishly argued back, "I have no look on my face, and even if Chrissy tried to say the same thing to me, I know my own feelings, you know," she finished, and Nicole felt Taylor's eyes pricking her skin as the other person studied her.

"I love you, Waverly," Rosita said then, and her voice was suddenly very soft, very caring, "even with all the crap the two of us have been through to get where we are today, I love you. I love you so much, and I just wish you would realise that maybe this situation is brining some past memories up for me that are not at all that pleasant."

Waverly audibly gulped. "I'm sorry, Rosie, I'm so, so sorry," she paused, briefly, "Tell me if there's anything I can do to make things better for you? I love you too, you know, you're my," she puffed, "you're my best friend in the entire world. Tell me what I can do."

Rosita was quick to reply. "There's not much you _can_ do," she whispered, voice carrying through the closed bedroom door, "I just wish you wouldn't lie to me, OK? And maybe stop lying to yourself as well, huh?"

"I'm, I'm not," Waverly replied, her voice quivering with uncertainty.

Rosita sighed heavily. "Yes, you are," she replied, and Nicole had a feeling that she was just about done with this argument with Waverly; it was probably something they had discussed many times before, given their earlier relationship. "Now come on, that plan for the sit-in doesn't make itself, OK? I have snacks."

"But Rosie," Waverly continued, "are you OK? Are we…" she trailed off, softly, "are we OK? Do you forgive me?"

Nicole could just imagine Rosita rolling her eyes at the shorter woman. "Yes, God Waves, of course you're forgiven," she replied, a low chuckle escaping her lips, "You're always forgiven, stupid," she finished.

Waverly's happy squeal reached them through the door, as the pair outside in the hallway stepped into Rosita's bedroom and closed the door soundly behind them. The second it was closed, Jeremy breathed a huge sigh of relief from where he was sitting on the bed, and Nicole stepped back, slipping her feet into her vans, and grabbing her jacket, rucksack and cell phone from around the room.

She could feel Taylor's questioning eyes on her. "Nicole?" They asked lowly, probably still cautious so the other two women in the room next door wouldn't catch them.

Shaking her head, Nicole grabbed her cap from where she had placed it on Jeremy's desk and tugged it onto her head. "I uh, I gotta go," she said then, still not raising her eyes to let them meet either Jeremy or Taylor's. "Uhm, thanks for… thanks for today. It was _super_ great," she whispered, finally letting her eyes scan over first Jeremy's face, then Taylor's.

"Anytime," Taylor replied, licking their lips briefly.

"Be sure to finish that Tinder!" Jeremy murmured after her, when she slipped out of his door and turned down the hallway. She heard the door close softly behind her, the two of them probably locking themselves inside to talk about what they'd just overheard. But Nicole silently hurried out of the apartment, down the hallway, zipping her jacket close and clutching her phone in her hands as she took the stairs, two at a time.

She could only stop to breathe freely when she was outside the building, swinging her rucksack over her shoulder and leaning down to unlock her bike.

What the hell had just happened?


	10. Chapter Ten: Going All Wynonna

**CHAPTER TEN: GOING ALL WYNONNA**

Nicole was woken by her cell phone going off on the night stand. At first, she was vaguely aware of it, still asleep, as it vibrated and rang on the table right next to her head. She grumbled into her pillow when she came to, realising that this was in fact happening, and it wasn't just a dream. In her sleepy state, she had been so sure that it was a dream.

The ringing stopped, and she breathed out, fully intending to go back to sleep with Calamity Jane, who was not all that pleased with the disturbance, but then the phone started going off once more. Nicole squinted her eyes against the red numbers on her bedside clock, and she was very confused when she realised that it was almost two in the morning. On a _Thursday_.

Flipping herself over, she reached for her phone, which was still ringing persistently, and she could feel herself getting slightly worried – if someone was this persistent, at this time of night, it had to be important, right? And it would most likely be bad news. She felt her eyes go wide when she saw whose name was written on the screen – _Waverly_. Why was Waverly calling her right now? She felt panic rise in her throat.

Sliding a finger across the screen, Nicole's voice was hoarse and sleep-ridden when she finally answered. "Waves?"

"Nicole?" Waverly's voice was frantic on the other end of the phone, "I'm sorry, I know I probably woke you, but I didn't know who else to call, and I-"

Nicole cut her off, pulling herself up to rest on her elbows as she took in Waverly's hurried words. It was a bit much right after being woken, but she tried to keep up. "Waverly, calm down, OK?" She hoarsely muttered, brushing a piece of red hair out of her eyes and reaching for her glasses on the night stand, "What's, what's wrong?"

Waverly breathed out deeply, voice still quivering as she answered, "It's, it's… it's Wynonna," she finally muttered, and Nicole could hear the worry in her voice, "I'm sorry, but I just, I," she paused, "can you come get us? Please?"

Awkwardly pushing her glasses onto her nose, Nicole was almost halfway across the floor. "Sure, I can come get you," she promised, as she hit the light switch and frantically looked around for her discarded pants on the floor. She found them and hopped on her feet, slipping her leg into them one at a time. "Where are you?"

"At home, I'll, I'll text you the address," Waverly replied, and it suddenly occurred to Nicole that she sounded a bit drunk.

The redhead hesitated, dropping to her feet to pull on a pair of socks. "Waverly, are you… are you drunk?" She softly questioned, breath ghosting across her lips. "You know I don't have a car, right? How can I get you?"

Waverly whimpered, and her breathing was laboured. There was a noise in the background, and it sounded a lot like something had come crashing down. "Please Nicole, ride your bike here, you can drive my jeep, and uh," she breathed out, slowly, shallowly, "and you need to take us to the hospital. Wynonna's… going all Wynonna."

Nicole wasn't entirely sure what 'going all Wynonna' entailed, but she knew that it probably wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. And Waverly sounded really upset, perhaps even a bit scared, so there really was no question whether or not Nicole would go and help her. Even if it meant calling a cab to take them somewhere. But Waverly's jeep would have to do (Nicole hadn't even known she had a jeep. Who the fuck has a jeep? Waverly continued to surprise her). "Sure Waves, I'll, I'll hurry, OK? I'll be there so soon, you won't even know it," she promised, as she grabbed her sweatshirt and a beanie.

"You're the best, I'm sorry, I didn't know who else to call," Waverly whispered, just as another loud crash was heard in the background. The other girl gasped, and Nicole felt her heartbeat speed up. "Wynonna, Wynonna, stop it!" Waverly suddenly yelled, and then she was breathing into the phone again, "I gotta go, OK? Please hurry," she finished, before she ended the call, and Nicole was left feeling utterly and entirely panicked.

She knew that it was two o'clock in the morning, but she was suddenly wide awake. She had no idea what was going on with Waverly and Wynonna – especially what havoc Wynonna was causing – but she had a feeling that it wasn't all good. If Waverly was calling her like that, it had to be serious. She had not experienced Wynonna's antics, but she'd heard stories of course, from when they were younger, and even the story of how she ended up at the police station, meeting Dolls for the first time.

The redhead slipped into her vans before tucking on her jacket. She did the round; keys, wallet, phone, and just as she was bouncing down the stairs, thoughts of Waverly and Wynonna spiralling out of control in her mind, she received a text from Waverly with their address.

—

The small, old house was slightly isolated behind tall bushes and a giant gate. There were other houses scattered on the street – Homestead Ave. – but at first Nicole was sure her map had guided her to the wrong location. Up until now she was certain that Waverly and Wynonna shared a three bedroom apartment somewhere closer to campus, but apparently she had gotten that entirely wrong.

She locked her bike and carefully opened the tall gate, still uncertain whether or not she was at the right place. But then she saw a red Jeep Wrangler, and a bike she recognised as Wynonna's immediately, parked right next to each other, and she felt more sure that she was where she was supposed to be. She hurried up the path to the house, and saw that there was light in almost all of the windows on the ground floor, and the front door was slightly open.

She scaled the three steps to the porch and pushed the door fully open, poking her head inside. "Waverly?" She softly questioned. She didn't like that there were no sounds coming from the house; when she had been on the phone with the other girl just twenty minutes earlier, there had been crashes and sounds coming from the background.

She stopped when she was inside what appeared to be a living room. A few chairs were turned over, and there was a pile of broken glass on the side. And – Nicole gulped – was that bloodstains leading towards the staircase? She felt panic rise in her throat, and her concern, as well as her protective cop instinct, took over. She rushed towards the stairs, not caring whether or not she stepped in any of the blood, and hurried down the upstairs hallway. There was a light streaming from a partially closed door by the end, and she rushed towards it, only stopping when the soft sound of Waverly singing reached her ears.

"… _take a stick, and knock it off, pop! goes the weasel,_ " she finished, just as Nicole pushed the door open, and looked into the bathroom.

Waverly was sitting with her back against the wall, cradling a crying Wynonna in her lap. There was blood on Waverly's white shirt – it looked like a nightgown – but Wynonna was much more covered in the red substance, and she had some sort of towel wrapped around her upper arm. A giant red stain was slowly making its way through the cotton.

"Waves?" Nicole breathed, her brown eyes scanning over the scene before her. She felt a rush of relief wash over her, because even if there was definitely blood, both Wynonna and Waverly appeared to be physically okay – emotionally, she wasn't so certain. But she didn't know what had happened.

Running a hand through Wynonna's wild mane, Waverly smiled faintly up at her. "She's just started to calm down," she whispered, "thank you so much for coming."

Nicole kneeled down next to her. She could tell that Wynonna was half asleep, her blue eyes drowsy, and she appeared to be heavily drunk as well, if the stink on her breath was any indication. She had definitely had whiskey. Her usually beautiful features where scrunched up, and the way she was cradled in her sister's lap made her look so tiny and fragile. Not usually something one would say in regards to Wynonna Earp.

The redhead brushed a hand over Waverly's bare shoulder. "What happened?"

"She's dealing with some stuff right now," Waverly whispered, her pink lips barely moving as she spoke, "We need to get her to the emergency room, she needs stitches," she said, her green eyes scanning worriedly over Wynonna's blood-soaked arm. "I'm sorry, I really didn't know who to call. I would have called Dolls, but Wynonna didn't want to give me his number, and I've had too much to drink to… to drive," she finished, voice choking slightly as she spoke.

Shaking her head, Nicole silenced her. "Don't worry about," she whispered, softly reaching down to untuck Wynonna from Waverly's arms. "Go and get some clothes and your keys, I'll carry Wynonna downstairs," she said, just as she squeezed her right arm between Waverly's front and Wynonna's back, and tucked the other one beneath Wynonna's legs.

Waverly gratefully scooted away from the scene, and Nicole realised that she was much bloodier than first anticipated. "Thank you," she whispered, her green eyes cloudy with tears as she gazed down at her big sister. "I'll tell you everything, I promise," she said then, eyes moving to stare meaningfully into Nicole's.

The redhead wasn't one second doubting that the brunette was going to tell her; the look in her eyes said it all. "Don't worry about it," she whispered, as she struggled for a moment to stand up with Wynonna in her arms, "you can tell me everything later. Let's just get to the emergency room," she said.

Waverly offered her a tentative smile, before she turned on her heel and rushed down the hallway. Nicole followed her, her eyes glued to the hot mess of a woman in her arms. She had no idea what had caused all of this to happen, but she was pretty sure that Wynonna's heart was breaking, even if she was trying her best to play it cool and collected all the damn time. Nicole knew Wynonna didn't like to think so, but she was a softie on the inside, something she rarely showed other people. But Nicole was beginning to get a good read on her; something about the oldest Earp just made Nicole care so deeply about her as well.

She couldn't begin to imagine the pain that the two Earp girls had experienced in their lives, and she had a feeling that Wynonna had taken the blunt of it. She'd always, always tried to protect Waverly, Nicole was sure of it, even if it sometimes backfired on her, and everything got messed up. But Nicole saw the fierce love and protection Wynonna had for those whom she cared about. It was something Nicole could relate to.

When she came downstairs with the drowsy woman in her arms, Waverly was already outside, unlocking the jeep. They worked in silence, getting Wynonna into the seat, so she could rest her head in Waverly's lap as they drove, and Nicole hurried onto the driver's side, sticking the keys in the ignition, and turning the engine on with a roar.

The drive to the emergency room was silent. Wynonna stirred pretty quickly, the rumble of the car probably waking her, but then Waverly started stroking her brown locks and singing softly below her breath to soothe her. Nicole's eyes were focused entirely on the road ahead of her, trying to calm her panic now that the immediate danger was over, as well as she wanted to give the Earp sisters their privacy, even if that wasn't really possible in Waverly's jeep.

When they arrived at the emergency room, Nicole carried Wynonna in her arms again, Waverly rushing in front of her to the desk, demanding they see a doctor immediately. Nicole knew it wasn't going to be right away though, because they had Wynonna wrapped up, and it possibly looked a lot bloodier than it was. Instead, Waverly got a lot of papers she needed to fill out, and Nicole sat Wynonna down on a blue hospital chair and let the brunette's head rest on her shoulder.

"It's gonna be awhile," Waverly grumbled as she took a seat on the other side of Nicole. It was then that Nicole realised that she was just wearing a thin jacket over her (almost see-through) night gown and had stuck her bare feet into a pair of boots. The brunette clicked the pen and let her eyes scan over the papers on the clipboard.

Awkwardly slipping one arm out of her jacket, Nicole replied, "Yeah, it's like that a lot," she nodded, as she carefully lifted Wynonna's head to get the other arm out as well. The oldest Earp moaned slightly, and Nicole bit her lip, as she slid the jacket out from under her. She dumped it on Waverly's lap, "Put this on too, you must be freezing," she whispered.

Waverly offered her a grateful smile and placed the jacket over her knees, like a little blanket, "Thank you," she said, but Nicole could clearly see the worry linger in her eyes when they graced Wynonna.

"It's gonna be okay, you know," she promised the other woman then, sincerely.

Waverly furrowed her brown as she scribbled Wynonna's details on the paper in front of her. "Yeah, it's just," she paused, biting her lip, but pen still moving, "this day just gets to her."

Nicole swallowed and watched for a second, as Waverly filled out Wynonna's date of birth, "This date?" She whispered, brown eyes trailing the words on the paper. Waverly really had a nice penmanship.

Flipping the cap onto the pen, Waverly let out a long sigh. "It's… it's the anniversary of our father's suicide," she replied, eyes landing on Wynonna again – Wynonna who was drooling slightly onto Nicole's shoulder. "We have this, uh, this tradition, on this date, where we get fucking hammered together," she continued on, eyes finally lifting to meet Nicole's brown ones, "It's this date, and uh, same goes for the anniversary of Willa's, you know… _kidnapping_ ," she whispered the last word, a haunted look edging over her features.

Not entirely knowing how to respond to that, Nicole nodded her head softly. She couldn't help but feel sorry for both of them once again; she knew that neither Waverly nor Wynonna probably wanted anyone's pity, least of all hers, so she wasn't pitying them, she was just – so, so heartbroken for them. That they'd had to go through something like that, losing their sister and both of their parents. Nicole couldn't imagine what that must be like… She was suddenly so grateful for her own family, even if they all tended to meddle a little too much in her love life.

"Plus, Wynonna's got a shit-load of other things to worry about right now," Waverly added, looking at Nicole with suddenly very tired eyes, "she's handling them in, uuh, her own Wynonna-fashion, blowing shit up, drinking whiskey and tequila," she flushed, her cheeks turning pink, "I might have tried some bubblegum sake imported from Japan, as well."

Nicole couldn't hide the fond smile that came to her lips just then, because importing bubblegum sake from Japan was just something Waverly Earp would do. Why was it that even when Nicole was trying to keep her distance and stay clear of her, Waverly still managed to be absolutely adorable? It was hard trying to find another date when Waverly was being all cute like that. And of course it didn't help that Nicole had to get out of bed in the middle of the night to help the other woman, but that was something she'd never not do, because Waverly had sounded absolutely panicked and distressed. So of course Nicole had to go and help her, that was a given.

"Maybe getting drunk is not the right way to handle your memories anymore, huh," she finally said then, arching an eyebrow to further prove her point.

Waverly sighed. "It never has been. But it's the Earp way," she commented, before pushing herself out of the chair and blinking tiredly down at the redhead and her sister. "I'm gonna go hand these in, and then I'll hunt down some coffee for us. That OK?"

Nicole couldn't hide the grin that came onto her face then. Coffee was exactly what she needed if she had to stay awake for only God knew how many hours more. "Yes, please," she sighed. "I'll take good care of her 'til you're back," she promised, noticing Waverly's worried look in Wynonna's direction.

Bending down to press a kiss onto Wynonna's forehead, Waverly whispered a low, "Thank you," before briefly pressing her lips to Nicole's cheek in a kiss as well. She stepped back then, watching them intensely for a few moments more, before she turned on her heel and went towards the front desk.

Nicole couldn't help but watch her as she handed in the papers, before the nurse pointed her in a direction down the hall. Nicole's brown eyes followed her movement, until she was out of sight, before they turned downwards to look briefly at Wynonna. The other woman was still sleeping, so Nicole reached for her jacket, which Waverly had discarded on her abandoned chair, and fumbled with the pocket for a few moments. She finally got her phone out, and she unlocked it, absentmindedly scrolling through her social media accounts.

She opened Tinder then, as she might as well spend her time doing something, and she swiped through the different faces on screen, wondering why it was that none of them seemed to catch her attention at all. Even the ones she would have usually deemed to be her type, she just wanted to swipe towards the left, because they were just… Not Waverly. _Apparently_. Nicole groaned to herself and determinedly swiped ten girls in a row to the right, before she dropped her phone onto the spare chair next to her.

Wynonna mumbled something incoherent as she adjusted herself on the seat. Nicole just wanted to let her sleep, she'd be up soon anyway, when she was going to have her wound looked at, and Nicole couldn't help but wonder what had happened to cause such a wound in the first place. Waverly had only explained so much. The brunette tilted her head back, letting it hang limply over the back of the chair, before she started to snore loudly.

Nicole shook her shoulder slightly and readjusted herself in the chair as well, before she took to people watching, like she would usually do. When they were younger, her and Nathaniel used to always make up stories about the people they watched; it was something the two of them shared together, that Nadine had never been a part of, and she'd continued to do it in her adult life, whenever she needed to kill time.

She paused though, when a very familiar shape appeared what seemed to be out of nowhere, and Nicole had to blink a few times to make sure that she wasn't imagining things in her tired state. Nope, she definitely wasn't. That was Shae right over there, dressed in a white lab coat with blue scrubs underneath. Nicole turned her head to the side, ducking slightly down in her chair, hoping that Shae would be too busy, too tired, too much in a hurry, to notice her.

What was Shae even doing there anyway? Well, of course Nicole could tell what she was doing, but was it really already that time when Shae was going to be interning? Apparently so. Nicole cast her eyes downwards and started counting the titles on the floor. She got to five, before a pair of feet came into vision.

"Nicky, is that you?"

Looking up, Nicole forced a strained smile onto her face when she came face to face with her ex-girlfriend – the ex-girlfriend whose texts she hadn't bothered to answer. "Shae, hi," she whispered, brown eyes scanning over the familiar features. Shae was still as incredibly beautiful as she'd always been. Even wearing scrubs and a lab coat.

Shae's eyes scanned over her face briefly, before they moved to graze over Wynonna's sleeping, snoring form. "What are you doing here?" She questioned then, even though it should be obvious. Wynonna did have a lot of blood all over her clothes.

Nicole hooked a thumb sideways to point at the drooling brunette. "Wynonna's uhm, she's hurt," she replied, sneaking a glance pass Shae in hopes of seeing Waverly's bubbly form skipping down the hallway with two cups of coffee and a great excuse to send Shae away.

"I can see that," Shae scoffed, her brow furrowing. "You're not hurt, are you?"

The redhead shook her head. "Nope, just Wynonna," she replied, before offering Shae another awkward smile. With dimples and all.

Shae shuffled her feet. "Well, do you need me to take a look at her?" She offered, her eyes once more landing on Wynonna, more specifically the blood-soaked towel around her arm. "I can do her stitches, you know. I'm supposed to be on my break, but…" she stopped talking, brown eyes moving to Nicole's with questions arising in them.

It probably wasn't the ethical thing to do, and it was definitely not what Nicole wanted to do, but she had to think of Wynonna – and Waverly – and the sooner they got Wynonna stitched up, the sooner Nicole could drive them home and then ride her bike back to her own bed. She glanced at Wynonna, before turning to nod at Shae. "She's uh, pretty intoxicated, too," she warned her.

The dark-haired woman offered Nicole a nervous smile. "I'm sure I can handle it," she promised, before nudging her head towards Wynonna. "Grab her and follow me, yeah? As far as I recall, it should be no problem for you to carry her."

Nicole felt her face flush a little, but she turned to Wynonna to get a good hold of her, thankful that Shae wouldn't be able to see the way her cheeks pinked. She tucked the sleeping brunette into her arms and followed Shae down the hall to an unoccupied room. She dropped Wynonna onto the white hospital bed and sat down on the spare chair, immediately reaching for her phone to text Waverly their room number.

Shae was fidgeting with a few things, before turning to the computer. "What's her name?"

"Wynonna Earp," Nicole replied, and watched as Shae started typing on the keyboard, "that's Wynonna with a Y and two N's," she added, for good measure.

"Thanks," Shae mumbled, as her eyes started reading over Wynonna's file on screen. Nicole could see the way her brow furrowed. It was something that always happened whenever she was concentrating or really confused about something. Nicole wondered which of them was the cause right now. "Can you wake her?" She questioned then, as she wheeled closer on her chair, a suture kit in her lap.

Nicole took a good hold of Wynonna's thigh, squeezing it – probably a little roughly – as she shook her. "Wynonna," she hissed, watching the other woman closely, "Wyn, wake up! We gotta do your stitches, yeah," she continued, as Wynonna seemed to stir a little, her face scrunching up in dissatisfaction at being wakened. "Wynonna!"

"Damn, lower your voice," Wynonna grumbled, as she opened her eyes, squinting against the hard fluorescent lights in the ceiling. She blinked as she tried to sit up straighter, "Fucking Haught-stuff," she continued to mumble, looking around herself, clearly confused. She paused, taking the scene in front of her in, before turning to Nicole. "Red, where the fuck am I?"

"Hi, I'm Shae," Shae said then, introducing herself by rolling her chair a little bit closer, "I'm here to stitch up your wounds. Do you know how much you've had to drink tonight?"

Wynonna stared at Shae, clearly not comprehending that this woman was for real. She raised an eyebrow. "Do I look like I count my shots," she simply replied, her blue eyes staring piercingly into Shae's.

"Wyn," Nicole said then, "Shae's actually my ex-girlfriend, she agreed to uh, to fix your arm and stuff… otherwise we'd still be waiting outside. For a long time, I think," she added, before turning to Shae for confirmation.

Shae nodded.

Wynonna didn't look impressed at all with that information. "Where's Waves?" She demanded to know then, as she held out her arm for Shae to look at. She didn't even wince as the brunette started to unwrap the towel from her body.

"Coffee," Nicole replied with a shrug.

"Let's see, shall we?" Shae interrupted them then, before discarding of the now very red towel into a waste basket. Her eyes turned wide when she saw the damage to Wynonna's arm. "Okay…" she trailed off, turning to Nicole with a questionable look in her eyes, "We need to clean this for glass, I can tell. Might need a shot. What uh, what happened?"

Wynonna didn't answer, so Nicole had to do it, but since she didn't know what had happened (except for the drinking), she just shrugged her shoulders. Waverly chose that exact moment to come barging into the room in true Waverly fashion; practically kicking down the door with her foot, all wavy hair and bloody nightgown – and a practically frantic, worried look in her eyes.

"Wyn," she elated, discarding both coffees onto a spare table as she practically fell on top of Wynonna to hug her.

The oldest Earp was still groggy, "I'm right here, Waves," she commented, a befuddled look on her face.

Waverly turned to Nicole then. Her eyes were narrowed in on the redhead and she punched her lightly on the arm. "Don't fucking leave like that," she huffed, but her eyes were full of love just the same.

Nicole offered her a dimpled grin and held up her cell phone. "But I sent you a text," she offered.

"Mind telling me how you got so much glass into your arm?" Shae interrupted them once more.

Turning to look at her, Nicole was surprised by how she'd suddenly forgotten she was even there. That was the effect Waverly had on her. Even when they were in the middle of the emergency room, and Shae had a pair of tweezers in Wynonna's arm, Nicole still managed to forget anyone but Waverly.

When no one answered, Shae sent Nicole a look that Nicole had been very familiar with by the end of their relationship, "Nicole?"

Waverly huffed and took a seat next to Wynonna on the hospital bed, interlacing her fingers with her big sister's. "There might have been some throwing of things and perhaps a bit of shooting," she replied, clicking her tongue. "Don't worry, doctor, I had it all under control, it was entirely an accident, and Wynonna's just…"

"… _being Wynonna_ ," Nicole and Wynonna finished for her, at the same time.

Grinning sheepishly at Shae, Waverly nodded. "Yeah? So can you stitch it up now? I handed in the forms and everything."

Shae nodded and bent her head to focus on the task of removing glass from Wynonna's wound.

Nicole grabbed one of the coffees from the table and offered the other one to Waverly. "See Waves, I said I'd take good care of her," she teasingly said, gulping down a large sip of coffee, relinquishing in the way her energy seemed to spike by just the smell. The taste wasn't too good though, it being hospital coffee and all.

Waverly offered her a genuine smile. She looked so tired suddenly, like she just wanted this day to be over so she could sleep for hours and not worry about a thing. "I know that, Nicky," she whispered, taking a short sip of coffee, "that's why I called you. You're _always_ there when I need you."

Try as she might, Nicole couldn't hold back the smile on her lips.

Wynonna grabbed the coffee out of Waverly's hand and offered them both a pointed look. It appeared that she was feeling slightly more energetic, at least the colour had returned to her face and she'd wiped the drool off her chin. "Stop flirting with each other in front of Red's ex-girlfriend," she just commented, before raising the cup to her lips.

Waverly's eyes widened and her head snapped to the side, landing on Shae immediately. She looked surprised, and Nicole didn't blame her. It wasn't like she'd counted on running into Shae tonight either. " _You're_ Nicole's ex?" she whispered then, breath ghosting over her lips.

Shae dropped the tweezers and the last piece of glass into a metal bin, before ridding her right hand of the latex glove and offering it to Waverly. "Shae Pressman," she introduced herself, a stiff smile on her face.

Shaking her hand, Waverly replied, "Waverly Earp."

"Can you feel this?" Shae turned to Wynonna then and pressed her finger towards the edges of her wound. Nicole winced just by sight, but Wynonna appeared unaffected.

She shrugged. "Can't say I can, doc," she commented, before raising the coffee to her lips once more. The look on her face was one of complete indifference.

Shae smiled in satisfaction. "Alright, let's get you stitched up."

She worked in silence, stitching up Wynonna's arm. The oldest Earp just gulped down on her coffee (Waverly's coffee), and the youngest Earp ran a hand absentmindedly through her sister's curly hair, while staring off into space. Nicole didn't want to look at Shae's work, so it wasn't entirely odd that her eyes ended up on Waverly's face. She couldn't help but wonder what was going through her mind right now. Nicole had never thought that Shae and Waverly should ever meet each other, but if it were to come to that, this scenario had definitely not been in her plans. A shit-faced, wounded Wynonna, a tipsy and tired Waverly and a working, professional Shae. It really wasn't a match, like, at all.

Nicole could only begin to wonder what Shae and Waverly were thinking of each other right this moment. She knew it shouldn't bother her what they thought, but the two women were so different, Nicole could hardly imagine anyone being more different. What did that make of her though?

Nicole just wanted to wipe the tired, sad look off of Waverly's face, but she had no idea how.

"There," Shae finally said then, straightening her back and smiling brightly at Wynonna, "all done!"

Wynonna flicked her arm slightly, twisting it, testing it. "Thanks doc," she commented, before falling onto the bed again with a giant huff. She closed her eyes.

Shae turned to Waverly and Nicole, an unsure look edged across her face. "So, I guess I'm gonna have to tell you how to take care of her, since I doubt she'll remember anything in the morning," she motioned towards Wynonna on the bed and smiled stiffly at Waverly. "You're sisters, yeah?"

Nodding, Waverly grabbed Nicole's coffee and took a sip of it. "Yeah, I'll be super good at it, I promise," she replied with a forced cheeriness. A thoughtful look came upon her features then, and she glanced briefly at Wynonna, before turning back to Shae. "Actually, I have some things I'd like to ask you now that we're here… if you don't mind?"

Shae stood up from her chair and moved towards the door. If she found the proposition odd, she didn't show it. "Sure," she said, nodding her head, "If you'll just come with me, we'll go through everything. She'll need to have her stitches taken out eventually," she finished. She had a hand on the door handle and allowed Waverly to pass her into the hallway, before she turned to Nicole with a sigh. "Take a few minutes and then get her out of here, OK?"

"Sure thing, boss," Nicole replied, not really daring to lock her eyes to Shae's. She did though, because she knew she had to.

"Good," Shae gave her a curt nod as she turned to leave. "And oh, Nicole?"

Nicole bit her lip, "Yeah?"

"Answer my text please," Shae finished, before she turned on her heel and guided Waverly down the hallway with her.

Nicole grumbled to herself as she turned in the chair. Stupid Shae, and her stupid need to be in charge and come out on top. A quality Nicole had never particularly liked about her. She sighed heavily, but her eyes widened when she realised that Wynonna was sitting up again, watching her with an amused expression across her face. Actually, she looked far too amused for Nicole's liking. "What?" The redhead grumbled, shifting in her seat.

Wynonna chuckled. "Nothing."

Narrowing her eyes in on the brunette, Nicole retorted, "Somehow I doubt that."

Wynonna shrugged. "Well, your ex-girlfriend is surely something," she commented, wriggling her eyebrows. "She must've been a firecracker in bed, huh."

"Stop it," Nicole just replied. She didn't even have the energy to argue more about it.

Prodding on, Wynonna lazily swung her legs over the side of the white bed, dangling them back and forth like a little child, "Did you see the sour look on Wave's face when she realised that the gorgeous lady doctor was your ex?" She questioned then, nudging Nicole's calve with her boot-covered foot. "I'm telling you, she was more than a little jeally," she teased.

'No,' Nicole thought to herself, even though Waverly had had a certain look on her face after Shae had introduced herself. "Waverly wasn't jealous," Nicole stiffly replied as she tried to hold back a yawn.

Wynonna hopped off the bed. "Sure she was, she likes you."

Nicole pushed her chair back, standing up and offering Wynonna an arm to hold onto if needed. "Nope," she replied. Mostly because it felt like the right thing to do, but also because she didn't need to get her hopes up. Waverly didn't like her. Some girl on Tinder probably did.

Ignoring her extended arm, Wynonna stuffed her hands into her pockets. "You're an idiot," she commented.

Feeling the need to defend herself from such accusations, Nicole answered in a hurry. "Well, she has a funny way of showing it then," she said, as she followed Wynonna out of the door, once more trying to suffocate another yawn. Wynonna looked at her in utter confusion. "You know, going on dates with pretty blonde girls and all," she explained as they came to a halt in the silent hallway.

Wynonna licked her lip. "What blonde girls?"

"At Shorty's," Nicole replied, and this time she couldn't hold back a yawn. It was going to be a long day tomorrow.

The brunette across from her broke into a startling laugh. "What!?" She cackled, "Are you talking 'bout Chrissy?" She shook her head, apparently very amused by this situation, "Red, that's Waverly's best friend from back home. She was just visiting," she commented, before turning to stalk down the hallway again.

Nicole hurried to keep up, not sure what to make of the wave of relief that washed over her right then and there. It shouldn't matter that this Chrissy person was just a friend – because Waverly wasn't interested in her anyway, right? – but somehow it did matter. She breathed out. "What? Really?"

"Really," Wynonna retorted, snapping her fingers in demand, "Now give me the keys, I'm driving."

"You're drunk," Nicole replied, as they came to a halt at the entrance, waiting for Waverly to return to them.

Shaking her head, Wynonna said, "Nope, I'm not, I'm fresh and ready to get back home. I don't have time for the boring driving of a narc," she offered Nicole a pointed glare, blue eyes zooming in on her. "Besides, you're looking mighty tired, Haught-shit."

Nicole grumbled and fingered the keys in her pocket. Maybe she should let Wynonna drive? Or it was probably safer to let Waverly drive. She answered, throwing a punch in Wynonna's direction, "Well not _all_ of us spent the majority of our time here sleeping."

Wynonna shrugged her shoulders, "Well, I just know how to make the best of a situation, Red, you should try it sometime," she retorted, before she pounced forward and snatched the keys from Nicole's hand. Not that it took much effort, because Nicole was way too tired to make much of a hassle.

"Wynonna…" she trailed off. She did not have the energy.

The brunette offered her a giant smirk. "Yeah, Red?"

Nicole sighed. "Just abide by the laws, will you?"

Wynonna broke into another belly laugh, just as Waverly joined them, tucking a few papers hurriedly into her the huge pocket of her jacket. She offered them both a confused, yet tired, look, "What's going on?" She softly questioned, raising a hand to rub her eyes.

Nicole pushed her glasses onto the tip of her nose. "Apparently your sister's driving."

Waverly breathed out as she turned to Wynonna, "Just don't kill us, yeah? We've spent enough time at this place for one night."

Wynonna turned to push through the double doors in search for the jeep, and Waverly and Nicole trailed after, albeit slower, both of them dragging their feet across the parking lot. Nicole didn't want to say anything, she didn't know what to say, it seemed like they were all talked out, so even when Waverly's hand came down to lightly grasp her own in a tight squeeze, she kept her mouth shut.

Maybe Wynonna was right. Maybe Waverly did like her. Nicole just wasn't sure if she should get her hopes up.


	11. Chapter Eleven: Taking Stock

**CHAPTER ELEVEN: TAKING STOCK (OF THE SITUATION)**

"Hi."

"Hey," Nicole replied, shuffling awkwardly on her feet, as she looked at Shae's stiff, yet nervously tingling smile. "Can I, uh, can I come in?"

Shae stepped aside, allowing Nicole to pass her right into the familiar apartment. Everything looked exactly the same as the last time Nicole had been there, which actually was quite a few months ago (how time had flown by); there was a clutter of books and papers on the common room table where one of Shae's roommates was typing away furiously on his laptop, as well as the usual pile of shoes and jackets by the hallway wall.

"Come on," Shae whispered, waving Nicole with her as she went down the hallway to her room.

Nicole toed off her sneakers and followed her ex-girlfriend down the familiar hallway and into the even more familiar bedroom. They'd spent most of their time together in Nicole's apartment – perks of living alone – but she'd still spent a lot of time at this place and had always been friendly with Shae's three roommates, who were all studying medicine.

Shae took a seat on the only chair in the room and turned around towards Nicole – who'd paused in the doorway, not quite sure what to do with herself – with an expectant look on her face. "Well," she motioned towards the bed, "aren't you going to sit?"

Shuffling across the carpeted floor, Nicole took a seat on the edge of the bed. "So uh," she didn't know what to say. She fidgeted with her hands, nervously wringing them and running them down the front of her jeans. "I replied to your text, I guess."

Not able to hide it, Shae let a tiny grin onto her face. "I guess you did," she chuckled, and her brown eyes shone with fondness and care.

Nicole chuckled as well. "So I got some stuff here?"

"It's that box right there," Shae replied, motioning awkwardly towards a small cardboard box near the opposite wall. "It's some leftover clothes, a few of your police books, and one of your favourite caps, you know, the 'Make America Gay Again' one."

Oh, Nicole had wondered where that one was. It actually was her favourite one. Mostly because of the political statement. Weird that she hadn't thought that it was here. "Thanks," she replied, nodding her head and glancing around the room – anywhere but at Shae. The atmosphere wasn't horrible, not even unfriendly, it was just… awkward. But Nicole supposed that these sort of things always were.

Shae crossed one leg over the other, and Nicole wondered how she could make sweatpants look so glamorous. She placed her hands gingerly in her lap. "How's your… friend?" She asked then. Maybe she was just being friendly, or maybe she really wanted to know. Nicole could never tell with her.

"Wynonna?" Nicole questioned, even though it was obvious that Shae could only be talking about her. "She's uh, she's OK, I guess? I haven't really seen her since I left Friday… but uh, she keeps sending me gross pictures of her stitches, so I guess she's doing alright," she finished, and she couldn't hide the fondness in her chuckle. As crass as Wynonna could be, Nicole really cared about her.

It must have shone right out of her, because Shae continued questioning her. "How do you even know her?" She wanted to know, brushing a piece of her short black hair behind her ear, "I mean, she's not usually the kind of person you hang out with."

That was definitely true, Nicole mused to herself. But that didn't mean Wynonna wasn't awesome. "Dolls," she begun, "you remember my friend Dolls? He uh, he had, uh has, a thing with her, I guess?"

Shae got a weird look in her eyes. "Dolls and Wynonna?" She questioned, raising an eyebrow and stiffening visibly in the chair.

Nicole nodded her head. "Yeah, yeah, uh… They have a – _thing_."

"Are you sure?" Shae questioned, and Nicole knew that something was going through her head, because she always knew. She knew all of Shae's faces. Perks of dating someone for over two years. She just couldn't for the life of her figure out why something was going through Shae's head at the revelation of Dolls and Wynonna having a thing.

The redhead leaned forward. She was curious to know what it was Shae was thinking though, because the wheels were clearly turning. "What," she whispered, eyebrow raised, "what are you thinking, Shae?"

Shae shrugged, "Oh, nothing."

Nicole scoffed, "Nope," she said, popping the 'p', "there's something. You forget I know your faces, Shae Pressman," she finished, wriggling her eyebrows for good measure.

The other women rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, but it's nothing, OK?" She stared at Nicole then, brown eyes meeting brown eyes, "Forget it. It's none of my business anyway."

It probably wasn't, so Nicole decided to let it slide. She couldn't imagine that Shae had anything insightful to say anyway; she didn't even know Wynonna and she barely knew Dolls. "Sure," she smiled, "but thanks anyway, for, you know… fixing her the other night. It helped a lot."

"No problem," Shae replied, and Nicole could tell that she was itching to say something else.

She cheekily grinned. "What?"

"How long have you been dating Waverly?" Shae let slip then. She looked thoroughly surprised that she'd let the words come out of her mouth, but Nicole could also see a sign of relief overtake her shoulders; clearly she'd been wanting to ask that question, just been beating around the bush. Shae straightened her back, anticipating the reply.

Nicole sat up straight, offering Shae a blank look. "We're not dating," she simply said. She wasn't even surprised that Shae had come to that conclusion after spending less than an hour with them Thursday night – it was the conclusion that most people came to after seeing her and Waverly together. Nicole thought that even if it wasn't the truth, it bode well for her stirring feelings that people seemed to assume that. There had to be – something – if so many people assumed, right?

Shae bit her lip. "But you want there to be," she said. It wasn't even a question as much as it was a statement of a fact.

It was annoying how Shae could see straight through her, how she just knew how Nicole was feeling. She hated it – especially now that they weren't together anymore and there was no reason for Shae to know so much about her feelings. Nicole groaned. "Well yeah," she said, offering Shae an insecure smile. It should feel more awkward to talk about… that… with her ex-girlfriend, but it actually really wasn't. But then again, her and Shae had always been able to talk about anything. "Waverly's… Waverly's really amazing," she finished, not quite sure what other words she could use to describe the fierce firecracker of a woman.

Rocking slightly on the chair, Shae offered her an encouraging smile. "Run your relationship by me again?"

Sighing, Nicole decided to just be honest with her. "Well obviously she's Wynonna's sister, but… she's also best friends with Rosita – you remember her?" She questioned, and when Shae appeared to come up blank, she added, "Ginnifer's ex-plaything? The tiny brunette with the big, uhm…" she motioned in front of her chest, hoping Shae would catch on without her having to add to that.

The other woman laughed. "Well, that does seem to be Ginny's type!"

Nicole couldn't bite back her chuckle. "Anyway…" she trailed off, as thoughts of Waverly once more entered her mind, and she couldn't stop herself from smiling. "Waverly is not really interested in anything serious, so even though I _really_ like her… it's not happening."

"Huh," Shae just commented. She looked entirely confused.

Nicole knew that reaction by now as well; it was the reaction people had when they found out that her and Waverly weren't dating. Because apparently that was as confusing as anything. "Yeah, I know," she just replied.

Shae sighed. "Well, maybe she says she doesn't want to date you, Nicky, but I'm telling you…" she paused, brown eyes boring intensely into Nicole's, "From where I was standing last Thursday? She definitely does."

Leaning back on her hands, Nicole offered Shae a shy smile. "You really think so?"

Nodding her head, Shae stood up from the chair again, effectively signalling the end of their conversation. "So anyway, your stuff's there, it should be everything."

Nicole moved over, picking the box up from the floor, testing its weight. Thankfully it wasn't too heavy, because she had to balance it on the back of her bike. She tucked it beneath one arm. "You don't have anything at my place, I think."

"I'm sure I don't," Shae replied, tucking her hands into the deep pockets of her sweatpants. She shot Nicole a sheepish smile. "But if I do, just text me, yeah? I'd really like it if things weren't awkward with us."

As much as Nicole hadn't thought so, she would really like that too. "Yeah, me too actually," she nodded her head, offering Shae a smile as well. "It's nice that things are… friendly," she finished.

Shae stepped closer, offering Nicole an awkward one-armed hug, which the redhead stepped right into. It was brief, quickly over, but it was nice, familiar. It was a goodbye, a much better one than the one they'd shared months ago, which had been sex and a lot of tears before Nicole had slipped out of the bed and biked home at three in the morning. This was better, more permanent. A real goodbye.

"Thanks for everything," Shae murmured into Nicole's neck, her breath ghosting across the sensitive skin there.

Nicole breathed in her scent; the scent that once used to bring her so much joy and comfort, but now felt much more like a memory. "And thank you," she whispered her reply, before she pulled back and withdrew from the other woman, moving into the hallway.

She wasn't sure if they were going to be friends, probably not, but this felt better – at least now she wouldn't have to duck her head whenever she saw the shadow of Shae anywhere on campus. It felt like a grown-up finish to a grown-up relationship, and now, now the question was just whether Nicole could be grown-up about her relationship with Waverly too.

—

She locked her bike outside of Shorty's and stepped through the double-doors into the bar. It was entirely unplanned an unnecessary to stop by, but she couldn't help herself, not after her talk with Shae, and she knew that Waverly and Wynonna would be there, because they were taking stock today, and Nicole kind of wanted to see them (well okay, mostly she wanted to see Waverly, but Wynonna didn't need to know that).

"Haught-shit!" Wynonna cheered, the second Nicole came into the bar. She pulled her top down, effectively showing off her bra-covered breasts, but more importantly – the stitches across her upper arm. Nicole had been very tired on Thursday, and she hadn't realised just quite how many stitches Wynonna had actually gotten; the wound appeared to be around four inches. "Look at this, huh?" She continued, wriggling her eyebrow and flexing her muscles, "21 stitches, baby!"

Nicole dropped her box of stuff on the surface of the bar and shot Wynonna a stiff smile. "Wow, so amazing, you must be really proud," she drily said, trying to mask the wave of panic that rushed over her. Wynonna's arm was yellow, green and blue. She wondered whether the rest of her body was as badly covered in injuries.

Wynonna stuck her tongue out at her. "Ah, come on, don't be such a bore, I'm OK, ain't I? Another scar to the collection!" She pulled her top back on and leaned closer to Nicole, bending towards her ear as if to tell her a secret. "I'll have you know, dudes dig scars!"

"Well, so do chicks," Waverly interrupted, appearing out of nowhere with an apron over her dress and her hair falling around her shoulders in messy waves. She looked cute.

Nicole tried to hide her laugh. "I don't think you're supposed to be proud of 21 stitches, Wynonna," she firmly said, even though it was mostly to mess with the oldest Earp at this point. Mostly.

"Hi Nicole!" Waverly cheered, stepping closer to her and wrapping her arms around her; squeezing her tightly in a firm hug. Nicole was pretty sure she heard the smaller girl breathe in her scent. "What you got there?" She continued on, as she stepped back, eyes moving towards the box in front of Nicole, but her hand still lingering on her back, just above the waistband of her jeans.

Flipping the box open, Nicole said, "Ah, just a bunch of stuff from Shae, I just picked it up actually."

She felt Waverly's hand stiffen on her back, but thankfully Wynonna was there to diffuse the tension. The brunette whistled loudly. "The hot lady doctor? Damn, you still had some shit at her place?"

Nicole grinned sheepishly. "Yeah," she replied, digging into the box and reaching for the one thing she had really missed – her cap. She pulled it out and shook it briefly, making sure it still had its shape, before she turned it over and showed the front to the Earps. "My awesome cap!"

"Political statement!" Waverly cheered, and her hand immediately left Nicole's back to examine the cap tactilely, like Waverly always seemed to prefer. She brushed her finger over the stitching on the front, eyes glistening happily. "This is awesome, Nicole," she honestly whispered, voice bubbling over with excitement.

Chuckling, Nicole grabbed the cap from her hands. "Sure is," she replied, and as she turned slightly on the chair, her eyes met Waverly's, and she tucked her closer. With one hand, she brushed a piece of Waverly's hair behind her ear, before she gently placed the cap on her hair, making sure it looked nice.

Waverly was watching her with huge, curious eyes, and she was standing so close to Nicole, that she could feel her breath running over her lips. She breathed out too, tongue peeking out as she concentrated on making it look good, and when she dropped her hands to her lap, her eyes finally met Waverly's. She knew she probably shouldn't read too much into it, but Waverly's breath was quickening.

"There," she finished, shooting the other girl a dimpled smile.

"Thank you," Waverly whispered, absentmindedly reaching a hand up to touch the shade of the cap.

Wynonna groaned loudly from the other side of the bar. "Hel- _looooh_?" She whined, blue eyes shimmering devilishly as she leaned against the wooden furniture. "Could you stop flirting for a sec, I don't wanna barf everywhere, I just finished cleaning this shit!"

Pulling back, Waverly turned to her sister with a sigh. "You're not done, you need to do the floors," she ordered, crossing her arms in front of her chest and tapping her foot impatiently against the floor.

Wynonna rolled her eyes. "Do I hafta?"

" _Yes_ ," Waverly firmly said, arching an eyebrow for good measure. She stepped forward, swatting at Wynonna's hands on the surface of the bar. "And don't touch any of the alcohol!" She warned, and Nicole knew that Wynonna had a tendency to drink whenever, but still she found the warning a little bit odd.

The oldest Earp rolled her eyes at the youngest. "I wasn't gonna," she retorted, pretty much like a five-year-old.

Stepping back, Waverly was eying her cautiously. "Just reminding you," she replied, shrugging her shoulders and backing away towards the stairs in the other end of the room. "Anyway, I'll be in the basement, gotta help Rosita with the stocks," she explained, her eyes moving from Wynonna to land gently on Nicole. The look on her face changed immediately, and a giant grin broke out. "Come downstairs if she bothers you, yeah?"

"Okay," Nicole whispered, a smile overtaking her face. She was pretty sure she could get used to the feeling overtaking the pit of her stomach when she just let things flow on their own account. Waverly made her stomach flip over.

Wynonna hammered her closed fist into the surface of the bar. "Hello, other people in the room here?" She fired at them, blue eyes shooting lightenings. "And I'm sure Haught-pants can manage, baby girl, I'm not a monster."

Rolling her eyes, Waverly turned on her heel and bounced down the stairs. Nicole watched her go, her eyes trained on the empty staircase until the door smacked close behind her. Only then did she turn back around on her barstool, glancing at Wynonna with warm cheeks, pretty sure that a pink blush was evident.

Bending down to a crouch, Wynonna pulled out two glasses and placed them on the newly cleaned bar with a loud bang. She offered Nicole a pointed glare, daring her to say something, before she turned around and grabbed a bottle of beer from the fridge.

Opening her mouth, Nicole said, "I'm not sure Waverly wants you to drink that-"

Wynonna cut her off. "I'm not drinking shit, Red, that's for you," she said, opening the bottle with a flick of her wrist, before she turned around and grabbed a soda from the fridge, too. "I'm having this," she continued, altering her voice, without a doubt mocking Waverly for all she was worth.

Nicole was highly entertained, and she poured her beer into her glass. "Why is she telling you not to drink?"

" _Apparently_ I need to dial it down," the brunette explained, pouring the soda into her own glass, eyes following Nicole's hand as she raised the beer to her lips. " _Apparently_ I can't be trusted with alcohol. _Apparently_ I need to take care of myself," she continued, shaking her head and huffing out air. "Apparently, apparently, apparently."

For some reason, even though Wynonna acted like it was a great bother to her, Nicole got the feeling that she actually didn't mind. She wasn't going to pretend to understand the Earp sisters and their relationship, but she had a feeling that Wynonna hadn't often had people to take care of her, so it was probably hard for her to accept Waverly's care and love.

"So," the brunette said, taking a long gulp of soda and leaning herself casually against the bar. "I think we gotta talk, Haught-shit."

Nicole nursed her drink; her hands cradled the glass and she ignored the stirring feeling of worry in the pit of her stomach. What could Wynonna possibly have to talk to her about? Maybe she wanted to comment on Shae again; after all, she had been greatly interested in commenting on her last Thursday. "Really, Wyn? Talk? Are you going to say 'It's not you, it's me'?"

"You wish you were awesome enough to be broken up with by me," Wynonna commented, clearly not finding Nicole's attempt at a joke amusing. "I'm not the Earp I wanna talk to you about though."

Sighing, Nicole didn't have to say anything to that. Urging her on, she wrapped her lips around the glass and let out a quiet, "Hmm."

"Look Red," Wynonna continued on, and something in the atmosphere was changing, something in her demeanour told Nicole that she shouldn't take the next words out of her mouth lightly. It was about Waverly, and if there was one thing Wynonna cared deeply about, it was Waverly. "I probably shouldn't say anything, you know? Because Waverly's my sister, and you're like… Red. And tall. And you're a narc, but…" Wynonna trailed off, blue eyes running over Nicole's pale face curiously, "Waves cares 'bout you, and I can _see_ that you care 'bout her."

'Surprise, surprise,' Nicole retorted inside her head. It really wasn't that difficult for anyone to see just how much Nicole had come to care about Waverly. As annoying as that was, especially given their current situation and Waverly's unwillingness to start something with her. She offered Wynonna a stiff smile. "Your point?"

The brunette furrowed her brow. "Like OK, like, you stare, OK? Like, a lot," she slipped between her lips, taken aback by Nicole's brazenness, "You stare with giant dimples and heart-eyes, and I just wanted to say that I think Waves is an idiot, OK?"

If Nicole had expected Wynonna to say anything, it definitely wasn't that.

"Because I know she likes you too," she added, and her voice grew softer, more gentle, as her fingers came to rest upon the surface of the bar. "She just doesn't want to let you in, Red. It's not her fault, she just can't, but I-" she stopped herself, breathing out heavily, eyes refusing to meet Nicole's as they sealed themselves upon the lines in the wood; studying them mercilessly, "But I want her to want to let you in, because I can see that you can be trusted with her."

The words hung in the air between them, silently waiting for Nicole to answer to Wynonna's sudden outpour of emotion. Nicole wasn't sure she'd ever heard Wynonna say anything as serious as that right there, and she wondered what had brought it on. She knew Wynonna didn't dash out compliments or praises – not to anyone but Waverly – so for her to say those words to Nicole? That was pretty damn important. And Nicole felt like she had to assure the other woman that she was right about her, that she could be trusted. She opened her mouth, "I, I would never-!"

"I know," Wynonna softly cut her off, her eyes finally lifting from the table to stare at Nicole's face. "And it's weird because even with all the shit we've been through, I always thought that Waverly was OK, you know? I mean, she always appeared okay," Wynonna paused, licking her lips with her tongue. She seemed to ponder for a second, probably not sure what to say or maybe how to say it. "But I'm realising now, she never was, we just deal with shit very differently."

That was definitely true. The two sisters handled their lives very differently, and Nicole didn't blame either of them for the way they made do. But she was curious to hear what Wynonna was thinking, and she was even more curious to figure out why she was involving Nicole in these thoughts right now. What was going through that mind of hers? "True," she softly replied, raising her beer to her lips and taking a long gulp of it. She savoured the taste, enjoying the way it seemed to calm her stirring nerves.

Wynonna motioned towards herself, "I deal with it by being drunk and crass, and Waverly deals with it by protecting her own heart so she doesn't lose anyone else," she revealed. She shook her head, tendrils of brown hair whipping around her as she moved. "But I bet you figured that out pretty quickly, 'cause you know people, Red. You see people, yeah?"

Nicole had sort of thought a lot about Waverly's reasons for cutting her off, for writing off their relationship before it even begun. She'd spent a lot of time musing it over, analysing it. And she hadn't for the life of her been able to figure out what it was that Waverly was trying to stay clear of, because all of the signs were there; her actions, her faces, even the way she touched Nicole, those said so many other things than the words coming out of her mouth.

However, there was one thing that made this situation difficult, because no matter what, Waverly had the right to not want to date her – and Nicole respected that. That's why she didn't make any moves, didn't let Waverly know just how much she wanted to date her. Because Nicole respected Waverly's choice. She bit her lip, "But I can't make Waverly do anything she doesn't want to do, Wynonna," she seriously said, "More importantly – I don't _want_ to make her do anything she doesn't want to do."

There was a shit-eating grin on Wynonna's face when she answered, eyes twinkling, "I know that, Red," she pointedly said, "and that's exactly the point, you see?"

Nicole wasn't sure that she did. "Hmm?"

"I accept your interest in my baby-sister," Wynonna said, as a matter of factly, as if her accept was everything Nicole never knew she needed or more importantly wanted, "No one can make Waverly do anything she doesn't wanna do," she continued, fingers trailing over her glass of soda, "The difference between Waves and I though – it's that I don't wanna do shit, so I don't, but Waves actually wants to do all that shits she does for everybody else…" she trailed off, stared into space in deep thought.

Nicole nodded her head; Waverly was awfully busy doing things for everybody else. She worked so hard for the society, arranging meetings, outings, activism while she worked and co-owned a bar and took more than her full-time of classes. Nicole wondered how she even found time for all of that. "She does have a lot on her plate," she lamely commented, not sure what else to say.

Shrugging, Wynonna's blue eyes found hers again. "Yeah, I guess it's because she got used to it growing up in that shitty town of ours."

"What do you mean?" Nicole curiously prodded at her.

Wynonna's reply was instant, as if she knew exactly how much Waverly had told Nicole of their past. "Well everybody thought the Earps were cursed, and I did a poor job at proving them wrong," she wriggled her eyebrows, poking fun at her own past and of the people from her hometown, "Waverly worked hard to make everybody like her – and she did it, she did it so well," she paused, and Nicole watched her carefully, "but that also meant that she sucked up to practically everybody and eventually she just _was_ the person who is kind to everybody."

Not able to hide her laugh, Nicole broke into a stream of chuckles and finished off her beer. She placed the glass back on the table and pointedly arched an eyebrow at the other woman. "So," she said, "what was the point of you telling me all of this?"

Wynonna leaned forward, her blue eyes following Nicole's movements as the redhead slipped off the chair and closed of the box of her belongings on the bar. "My point is," she replied, eyes shimmering with mischief, "Waverly's just trying to protect her heart, Red, and don't – just don't write her off just yet."

Not entirely sure what else there was to say, Nicole grabbed her box and turned to leave Shorty's for the day. Maybe Wynonna did have a point, maybe patience was the key? Nicole was sure Waverly was going to be worth it. But that didn't mean she was willing to wait forever, at least it shouldn't mean that.

"Bye Wynonna," she called, letting the door close behind her with a smack.


	12. Chapter Twelve: Shorty's Has a Backroom

**CHAPTER TWELVE: SHORTY HAS A BACKROOM**

It was next Friday at Shorty's when everything – and Nicole was sure it was _absolutely everything_ – went crazy.

The week had flown by quickly and easily enough; she'd been to the meeting at the LGBTQIA Society where everyone had been busy planning the sit-in for the gender neutral bathrooms on campus (a meeting which had been run sternly – but passionately – by Waverly in her I-know-best voice), and on Tuesday Nicole had had a long Skype-call with her parents and Neville ("Nicky, I never see you anymore, I only have stupid Nate, and his stupid football,"; "I know Nev, I know,"), while Wednesday had been Quiz Night at Shorty's that Nicole and her team had won (much to Eliza's delight and Wynonna's displeasure), and Thursday Nicole was surprised by Waverly at her door a little after five, claiming that she needed to repay her for all her help last week, and thus came bearing fresh homemade spring rolls with hummus (because hummus is awesome, Nicole mused) and peanut butter sauce.

They'd spent Thursday evening together, the hours flying by without Nicole's notice; she'd forgotten all about the reading she had to do for Friday's lecture, and they'd been sprawled out on her couch, taking turns petting Calamity Jane and drinking tea. It had all been so homey, warm, comfortable and absolutely everything Nicole wanted – which was why she'd needed to remind herself, as Waverly finally left at a quarter past _twelve_ , that they weren't actually dating, and that she needed to give Waverly just a little more time.

Even if it had seemed like Waverly very much wanted to lean up and kiss her, to spend the night in Nicole's warm bed and drink coffee together the next morning before class. Because at the same time Nicole had seen something else in her green eyes; she'd seen hope, desperation, a plea to somehow just wait for a little while. And Nicole had remembered Wynonna's words – _just don't write her off just yet_ – and she so desperately wanted to believe in both of the Earps that she completely forgot that she had a Tinder date planned for the next evening and instead promised Waverly that _of course_ she'd see her at Shorty's where she had the late shift.

So when she checked her phone after her lecture and saw a Tinder message from Rana confirming their date for drinks at eight, she realised with a lump in her throat that it would simply be too impolite to cancel at this time (something about her mother's voice telling her in no uncertain terms that she'd raised her better than that), and instead asked Rana if she would consider coming to Shorty's for that drink.

She'd rushed home, showered, fretted over outfits, eaten, before biking to Shorty's. It was only seven, but she figured she might as well hang with the others until Rana showed up. She probably should have told herself that bringing a date to Shorty's was not going to go without a hitch, but she hadn't thought that there was going to be _so much trouble_.

Taylor, Jeremy and Rosita were hanging out by the bar, playing cards and drinking beer, and Waverly was throwing in her two cents whenever possible, while Eliza was chatting up Mercedes, who was Waverly's co-worker for the night, trying to charm her way into her pants. Dolls and Wynonna were hanging out and Doc was nowhere to be seen yet.

Nicole took a seat besides Rosita, wrapping an arm briefly around her shoulders in a hug. "Hi," she said, and they all nodded their heads in greeting. "Can I get a beer?"

Waverly's smile was wide as she moved behind the bar, pouring Nicole a beer before tending to other orders. Taylor appeared to be losing in this game of theirs, and they sighed hotly, placing their forehead against the bar. Rosita laughed and Jeremy awkwardly padded Taylor on the back.

They lifted their head and turned to Nicole, giving her a once-over with sceptic eyes behind glasses. "What are you dressed up for?"

Nicole felt her cheeks instantly colour with a blush. "Uh," she stammered, eyes wavering, "I have a, uh, a date."

Jeremy's face lit up in a smile, and Rosita immediately raised an eyebrow. "You have _a date_?" She questioned, and it looked like her eyes were on fire. She said it maybe a bit too loud, and Nicole moved to shush her; she didn't know why, but she didn't feel like letting everybody inside Shorty's – maybe, perhaps, especially a certain brunette – know that she was expecting a date. "A fucking date?" She repeated.

Nicole shrugged. "Yeah, I – I have a date?" Her eyes drifted towards where Waverly was standing, chatting up one of the regulars; was she just imagining her back stiffening? That clench of her jaw? "Why shouldn't I have a date?" Nicole retorted, eyes meeting Rosita's fiery gaze.

The other woman swung her hair over her shoulder and straightened her back; she looked ready to fight. "You know why," she just pointed out, as if there wasn't any question at all. Nicole wasn't sure if Jeremy and Taylor had told Rosita that they had been in the room last week, during her argument with Waverly, but it appeared that Nicole's feelings for Waverly were common knowledge amongst their friends, even if she hadn't said them aloud herself. But why would Jeremy and Taylor tell Rosita about that day? Nothing particularly good would come out of her knowing they had been eavesdropping.

Taylor placed a calming hand on Rosita's lower back, "Retract your claws, Rosie, Nicole's good," they said, offering Nicole a comforting sideways smile.

Rosita opened her mouth to object, "Well, if's she gonna hurt Waverly, then-"

Jeremy cut her off. "Then Waverly needs to get her shit together, right? I'm sure it'll only remind her that no one waits forever if Nicole has a date, yeah?"

Nicole let her eyes meet Rosita's, "I swear, I don't want to hurt Waverly – I could _never_ ," she emphasised the word, _never_ , wanting to convey just how much she meant it, "but I also can't just let her hurt me, right? You should know that."

Rosita – of all people – should know that.

"I do," Rosita let slip, her eyes moving over Nicole's pale features, scanning her, seizing her up, "I'm sorry, I just…" she trailed off, shaking her head to herself and looking at her half empty bottle of beer.

Reaching a hand out, Nicole clasped it over Rosita's loosely, voice soft and comforting. "I know," she whispered, "I know, and I'm sorry you were ever hurt, and if I hurt you. That was never my intention."

Rosita turned her hand over, letting her palm meet Nicole's, and she tightly intertwined their fingers. "You're too good, you know," she whispered, eyes still firmly trained on the bottle on the table; she probably did not want to look at Nicole right now, not when they were talking about this. "I've been such a bitch to you, simply because Waverly likes you more than she ever liked me - well, at least she likes you a lot differently," she mused, before either Nicole or Jeremy or Taylor had time to open their mouths to object, because entire stories could be told about Waverly's relationship with Rosita, but it was hard to tell whether or not she might care more about Nicole; the safe bet was to say that she cared differently.

Rosita wavered, "But you're so nice to me, and I don't think I deserve it."

Nicole wasn't sure what to say, but thankfully Jeremy was there, and he always knew what to say, even if sometimes it wasn't the right thing. He always had _something_ to say, was perhaps a better way to phrase it.

He spoke up. "Hey now," he said, reaching over Taylor to clasp a hand to her wrist in a soothing manner, "you deserve everything good, Rosie, you were just hurt, okay? Nicole knows what, we know that, and Waverly knows that…" he trailed off, warm brown eyes meeting Rosita's in a fond look, "We all love you, yeah? And I'm sure Nicole's just really glad that you're looking out for Waverly despite everything."

"Am I?" Nicole questioned, her fingers squeezing Rosita's in a teasing manner, and she saw the other woman's lips curl into a little smile. "Times infinity!"

Rosita let out a low, breathy chuckle. "For what it's worth," she whispered, as she finally turned her head and stared softly at Nicole, her eyes shimmering with previously unshared affection. "I really am sorry, and you have my blessing to go be with Waves."

Nicole knew that Rosita technically didn't have any rights to give any blessings, and that it should be no matter to Nicole if she had it or not – but it really did mean something. It was nice to know that she had the other woman's blessing, because this was Waverly's best friend, and despite their past Nicole knew that they'd continue to be best friends. And if she really and truly did want to be with Waverly – she dared not hope yet for it to happen – Rosita's blessing was important.

Taylor joined in too; placing their hand in the tangle of other hands and offering a low chuckle. "Look at us, huh, giving blessings and sharing love. What a day to be alive!"

"Thank you," Nicole sincerely told Rosita then, before she withdrew her hand and clasped it around her beer to take a long sip. She needed that beer if she was going to get through tonight. Why she ever thought it was a good idea to get a date when she was so confused about everything else, she didn't know. Oh right, it hadn't been her idea at all. She had Jeremy and Taylor to thank for _that_. She glanced at her watch; it wasn't that long until…

"So tell us about your date!" Jeremy eagerly said, effectively changing the course of this conversation; Nicole needed a distraction, and Rosita needed time to get her bearings and sip her beer quietly.

Nicole groaned. Well, she had better indulge them. "Her name's Rana, she seems really cool," she mused, nodding her head and not quite wanting to meet the eyes of her friends. "She's uh, becoming a social worker…"

"Pictures!" Taylor demanded, and Nicole reached into her pocket to find her cell phone. She opened Tinder and quickly clicked on her conversation with Rana – they'd actually had quite a long conversation, and they had many things in common – before handing her phone over to the waiting couple. Rosita seemed mildly interested, but she was mostly focusing on her beer.

Jeremy smiled warmly up at her as he scrolled through the pictures. "She's beautiful," he commented, as he turned the phone over – this Rosita was forced to see – and showed them a picture of Rana wearing a beautiful deep blue hijab and the hugest smile. It was actually that picture that had made Nicole want to swipe right when she saw it.

"Who's beautiful?" Waverly interrupted them then, having finally finished serving the patrons beers and covering for Mercedes, who was eagerly engaged in a heavy lip-lock with Eliza up against the bar.

Taylor hummed, "Nicole's date," they said, as they grabbed the phone from Jeremy's hands and shoved it eagerly towards Waverly's face.

The tiny brunette gingerly grabbed the phone, and Nicole swore she saw a waver of hurt in her eyes, as they turned to meet hers. "You have a date?" She lowly whispered, before she cast her look downwards and stared at the pictures on Nicole's phone.

Nicole couldn't help but feel like maybe Waverly deserved this a little bit, even though she absolutely loathed the look in the other woman's eyes right now. But she had to stay strong, she had to believe what Jeremy and Taylor were preaching; Waverly needed to get her act together, and perhaps this was the way for her to realise it. And it wasn't like Nicole didn't want to go on her date anyway – Rana seemed really cool and if things didn't go further than this, maybe they could be friends.

"I have a date," she nodded in reply, raising her glass to her lips and gulping down beer. She couldn't tare her eyes away from the frown lines on Waverly's forehead.

"She seems really nice," Waverly flatly replied then and she slammed the phone onto the counter – perhaps a lot more forcefully than she'd meant to – before turning to wipe down the bar. As far away from her friends as possible.

Taylor turned to Nicole then, a sly smile covering their face and eyes glistening. "So that went well," they commented.

Rosita stiffly glared at Nicole. "I hope you know what you're doing," she said, "This might just push her away."

Nicole felt a pang of worry hit her chest, but Jeremy shrugged it off. "I don't think so," he confidently said, "this is just what needs to happen."

"Oh, there she is!" Taylor interjected then, and Nicole whipped around on the bar stool, only to find that Taylor was, indeed, correct – Rana was standing at the entrance, nervously fidgeting with her dress. Her face lit up when her eyes met Nicole's, and the redhead offered her a tiny wave.

Hopping off the stool, Nicole greeted the other woman with an awkward hug. "Hi," she said, and she found that she was barely any taller than Rana, and the other woman wasn't even wearing heels, "I'm so glad you could make it here," she continued, stuffing her hands into her back pockets, "These are my friends. Jeremy, Taylor and Rosita."

"Hey," Rana greeted. She was wearing a deep red lipstick and a black dress. "Is this a group date or what?" She teased, eyes scanning over Nicole's form before meeting settling on her face. The redhead couldn't quite read the look in her eyes.

Rosita interjected, "Yup, that's how we roll, you get all of us or none of us."

Rana snorted, "I'm not sure I can be onboard with the penis I sense at this table."

Nicole felt her eyes widen as Jeremy blushed, but Rosita broke into a roar of laughter. Taylor laughed too, but it was ultimately the tiny kick they offered Nicole's shin, that made her realise that she better get a move on. She motioned towards the bar. "Wanna uh, wanna grab a drink and find a table?"

Tearing her eyes away from Rosita, Rana turned to Nicole with a giant smile. "Lead the way, Red."

Nicole was sure she heard Rosita whisper an "I like her," to Jeremy and Taylor as she and Rana made their way towards where Waverly was standing. As if this wasn't awkward enough already, Mercedes had absolutely no time to serve anyone and they had to ask Waverly. Well, might as well get introductions out of the way.

"What are you drinking tonight?" Nicole questioned, as she leaned herself against the bar, offering Waverly a smile.

"Virgin Margarita?" Rana said, shooting a smile in Waverly's direction.

Nicole tapped the bar, "Waves, you heard the lady. Virgin Margarita it is," she motioned towards her friend, "This is my friend Waverly, and this is Rana."

Waverly offered Rana a dazzling smile. "Hi."

Rana looked at Nicole. "Do you just know everybody in here or something?" She questioned, eyes moving towards Waverly as the other woman turned to prepare the drink.

Shrugging, Nicole said, "I come here often. Rosita works here too, and Waverly actually owns part of the bar."

"We have quiz nights on Wednesdays," Waverly piped up, as she placed the drink in front of Rana. "And a beer for you, Nicky?"

"Sure," Nicole replied.

"Find a table, and I'll bring it to you," Waverly promised, her green eyes shining as they stared into Nicole's.

Nicole wasn't quite sure if she liked these turn of events or if she liked the way Waverly was acting so nicely – but perhaps that was a true testament to how much it bothered the other woman? Waverly was always nice, and although she'd actually grown to be a generally nice person and not fake it, Nicole thought about Wynonna's words, and how it had been a necessity for Waverly to act that way towards everyone in their hometown. Maybe it meant that Rana's presence was bothering her a lot, too?

They found a table in the corner of the bar and Nicole asked Rana questions about her family and her studies, and the conversation flowed nice and easily. Nicole found that Rana was maybe a bit too sarcastic and snarky for her like, but the other woman joked a lot and she seemed to feel okay with her surroundings. Not everybody was comfortable at Shorty's, but Rana blended right in, so at least that was something.

Waverly brought her beer over and stopped to chat for a second; she asked Rana a few questions, but otherwise mostly spoke fondly of Nicole – heck, she even made Nicole blush for a second there – and when she left, Nicole realised that she'd been caressing her shoulder throughout their conversation. And how did she realise this? She immediately missed the contact, the warmth and care of Waverly's fingers.

Rana watched her go with round eyes. "I thought you said you didn't hang with your exes," she quipped.

Nicole bit her lip. "Oh Waverly? Waverly's not my ex, we're just… friends."

"Oh," Rana replied.

"My ex is Shae, did I not tell you that?" Nicole prodded on, raising her bottle to her lips and taking a sip. Why did she suddenly feel awkward?

Rana shrugged. "I don't think so," she said, eyes still turned towards Waverly behind the bar; she was chatting animatedly with Doc who had just decided to come creeping out of the backroom. "I mean, I think I would have remembered…"

Nicole smiled warmly at her. "Don't sweat it."

Raising her drink to her lips, Rana let the silence fill the air between them for a stretch of time, before she placed her drink back on the table and looked to Nicole. "I guess I'm just confused then," she said, blinking, "I don't really want any drama, I've had enough drama in my life, and it seems to me that you're not really a free agent right now."

Straightening her back, Nicole felt a tingle creep up her spine. Darn her for going on a date with such a perceptive woman as Rana. Of course the other woman had to pick up on absolutely everything around her, including Waverly's behaviour. But of course – Nicole did have a thing for smart women, and Rana was definitely smart. Nicole wasn't going to lie to her; that went against absolutely everything she believed in. "I'm sorry," she whispered, offering the other woman a smile, "I'm, I guess I know what you're getting at, but truth be told, I _am_ actually a free agent right now…"

Chuckling, Rana raised an eyebrow. "But are you though?" She said, and Nicole was relieved to see that she appeared to find the entire situation amusing. "You might technically be a free agent, but your _friend_ is shooting me daggers from across the room whenever she thinks I'm not looking."

Nicole wanted nothing more than to turn around and take a look for herself, but her guess would be that Waverly would cease her actions immediately and appear supportive friend if she did that. So she stayed put, trusting her instincts to trust what Rana was telling her. "I'm sorry, she's really a sweetheart, you know."

"I see the appeal," Rana confirmed. She leaned forward then, closer to Nicole as she lowered her voice, thus forcing Nicole to lean in closer as well. "I'm not really much for sweethearts though, and like I said, I don't need any drama, so I think I'm going to have to cut this date short."

Nicole had suspected at much, and she didn't even feel a sting. The romantic kind of chemistry wasn't present between them, even if Rana was an attractive woman. "I'm so, so sorry you had to come all the way here, we should have gone somewhere else," she hurriedly replied. She felt like she owed this woman an apology even if she'd done nothing wrong.

Rana offered her a dazzling smile. "Don't apologise, Nicole," she whispered, and then she went ahead and arched an eyebrow again. "I have a feeling this night is not for nothing, let's just say…" she trailed off, and her eyes moved from where they had undoubtedly been glued to Waverly to find their way across the room, "If I help you out for a second, test the waters of our date – dates can kiss, you know? – would you then be convinced to hand my number over to your gorgeous friend Rosita and tell her that our lip-lock was just for show?"

Feeling her eyes turn wide, Nicole gulped. Did Rana really mean that-? Oh, so she was interested in _Rosita_. Well that made a lot of sense if she wasn't much for sweethearts. Rosita was more of a crude sarcasm kind of person. But at the same time Rana wanted to help Nicole out? She wasn't quite sure if it was a good idea to rattle the cage more than she'd already done. But then again, Rana was absolutely right – oftentimes dates would kiss each other, it was perfectly normal. And Nicole might not wish to lock lips with anyone but Waverly at the moment, but apparently Waverly might need some reminding on just how available Nicole was. It couldn't be all bad, could it?

She felt Rana's quizzical eyes on her, and offered her date a warm smile. "I could be convinced of that," she promised, dimples popping out. "Are you sure though?"

Winking at her, Rana downed her drink and reached into her purse. "See," she said, getting out a pen and a scrap of paper. She scribbled her number down. "Give this to Rosita, will ya'?"

Nicole's hand brushed Rana's as she took the paper and tucked it safely into her pocket.

"And now," Rana whispered, reaching a hand up and clutching onto the open collar of Nicole's shirt. She grabbed it tightly, raising an eyebrow and daring Nicole to stop her if she wanted to. Nicole didn't want to though, she could feel her pulse quickening and her throat going dry, but she most definitely wanted to do this – most of all just to see what kind of reaction she'd get out of Waverly.

When she didn't object and didn't pull back, Rana teasingly pulled her closer and placed her lips on Nicole's. It wasn't bad, by no means. It was actually quite good, and Rana wasn't an awful kisser. But there was also no spark, no flip in her stomach and no tingles – not the tingles she'd grown so accustomed to whenever Waverly barely touched her. She didn't feel the need to dive in deeper and never let go, it was just that – a kiss. A nice kiss, with too much teeth and lipstick, but nice nonetheless. Even when Rana pried her mouth open and Nicole felt her tongue.

A loud shatter was heard from across the room and the pair bounced back. Nicole felt disorientated for just a moment, and she quickly wiped the back of her hand over her lips – there was a smear of red lipstick on her skin now – before her eyes moved to find the source of the noise. And the source she did find: Waverly was standing on the floor in the middle of a pile of broken glass. And she was drenched in beer. Oh shit, she was drenched in beer and her white shirt was getting see-through.

Two trays were on the floor, and there was glass everywhere, and everybody was looking at her. And she looked about ready to break into tears, and Nicole was very aware of the fact that she was staring straight at her and Rana.

"Waves?" Rosita's voice broke through, and her eyes followed Waverly's line of sight, only to land on Nicole and Rana. Her gaze hardened.

"Shit, I'm sorry," Waverly breathed, finally snapping out of it and bending down to grab the trays. "Can you, Rosie, can you-?"

"I'll do it, don't worry," Rosita promised as she kneeled down to gather pieces of glass.

Waverly muttered something as she stood up, and her gaze landed on Nicole once more, before she hurried across the floor, clutching the trays to her chest. Her long brown hair bounced after her as she went around the bar and through the door to the backroom.

Doc turned to Nicole with an amused look in his eyes, and he shook his head to himself, before he turned to saunter towards the table where Dolls and Wynonna were sitting; they appeared to be in a heavy discussion of some sorts, and they had barely registered what was happing in the middle of the bar.

"Nothing to see her, peeps!" Rosita hollered as she moved to grab a broom and dust pan from behind the bar, "Show's over, drink your body weight in beer and buy some shots!" She continued, before she started sweeping. Jeremy grabbed the dust pan from her hands and moved to help her.

Nicole felt Rana's tentative touch on the back of her hand. "So that went well, huh."

She swallowed thickly. "Maybe a bit too well, I reckon."

Shaking her head, Rana tried to relieve her. "Nope, I don't think so. It's just what she needs. You'll see," she promised.

"I hope you're right," Nicole whispered, her eyes turning towards the door that Waverly had just swept through. Why did she have such a shitty feeling in the pit of her stomach? Was it just because she was worried if Waverly was okay after dropping all that beer, or was that guilt already gnawing away at her? She shouldn't feel guilty, she'd done nothing wrong. But all she wanted was for Waverly to be happy…

"That was quite a show ladies," Taylor commented then, placing two heavy hands on Nicole's shoulders as they appeared at their table. Nicole wasn't sure if they sounded amused or maybe a bit worried – perhaps both?

Nicole stared up at her friend. "Was it too much?"

Taylor bit their lip. "Maybe it was just enough."

Rana cleared her throat. "Anyway, I better bounce," she said, pushing her chair back and smiling warmly at Nicole. "It was nice to meet you, and hopefully I'll see you again someday?"

"I think you will," Nicole replied as she padded the pocket that held the note for good measure. She had a feeling that if anyone would be able to draw Rosita's attention away from Waverly for good, it was going to be Rana. The other woman was awesome – and sarcasm and jokes were usually something that bode well with Rosita. At least as far as Nicole knew.

Rana left the establishment – not before winking at Rosita – and Taylor sat down in her vacated seat. "That was all for show, right?" They questioned as they reached for Nicole's beer and took a sip of it.

Nodding, Nicole explained, "I think Rana's interest may lie elsewhere in our dysfunctional group of friends."

"Awesome," Taylor replied, setting the beer down and motioning their head towards the backroom. "You might wanna go see what's up though?"

Nicole took in a long breath and pushed her chair back. She wasn't certain what was going to happen when she entered the backroom, and she was honestly quite worried about it. Would she find Waverly in tears? Would she be pissed at her? Would she be cold? Nicole was afraid, because as much as Waverly's reaction told her that the tiny brunette cared deeply about her – might even have similar feelings as Nicole herself – it wasn't going to bode well for her if Waverly still wasn't ready to admit those feelings to herself and to others.

The redhead carefully made her way across the floor, avoiding Rosita and her wrath, before stopping outside of the door to the backroom. She took in a deep breath, readying herself for whatever situation she might step into, before she pushed the door open and slipped inside.

What she found was Waverly. In her bra and skirt. Sorting through a box. And cursing the shit out of everything she found in it. She didn't appear to have registered Nicole's presence, and she was cursing beneath her breath, her beer-soaked shirt draped over the back of a chair.

"Fucking shit, shit-eating, shit-ticket, stupid, _fucking_ Waverly," she murmured, pulling a shirt out of the box and looking at it, before deeming it unwearable and chucking it to the floor. She paused then, when her eyes moved and she realised that she was not alone inside of the room. She huffed.

"Uhm," Nicole shifted awkwardly, leaning herself against the closed door behind her. "Are you OK? That was quite a spill."

Waverly crossed her arms in front of her chest, and glared at her. "Do I look OK to you, Nicole?"

Oh, so pissed Waverly it was. Except… was that tear stains on her cheeks? Nicole gulped. "I'm sorry, do you wanna borrow my t-shirt? I can button up my shirt," she offered, trying desperately not to let her eyes move even an inch away from Waverly's face. It was quite difficult though, when Waverly was wearing only her bra and crossing her arms like that. Why was that woman so attractive? Nicole could hardly focus right now.

"No thank you," Waverly stubbornly replied, shaking her head dismissively as she stepped closer to Nicole.

The redhead felt her breath hitch in her throat. "Look, I'm sorry you spilled, but like… it wasn't my fault, OK? I only want to help you," she continued as she moved to slip out of her plaid button-up, not caring whether or not Waverly wanted to accept her help or not. She was going to get it either way.

Waverly glared at her. "You have lipstick all of over your face," she flatly commented.

Nicole raised the back of her hand to wipe her lips once more. "Oh."

"So is she your new girlfriend or what?" Waverly continued. Her voice was still tough, but there was a flicker of something else in there, and she tapped her foot, looking both adorable and heartbroken at the same time. Nicole found that she'd never looked smaller.

"It was just a date," she replied, meeting Waverly's eyes and holding out her button-up. She didn't exactly feel like slipping out of her t-shirt too, not in the current situation, even if that'd probably suit Waverly's skirt better. "Tinder," she added, for good measure.

Ignoring the offered shirt, Waverly continued to question her. "Are you gonna see her again?"

Nicole wasn't going to lie. "Probably."

A flicker of hurt – and this time Nicole was sure it was hurt – moved across Waverly's face. "Well, good for you," she commented, voice sharp.

Nicole was about done with this. Here she was, offering her damn shirt, wanting to make sure that Waverly was okay, answering her questions, and being a damn champ about everything – and Waverly was still snapping at her, still not making a move to be with her, even if the tension between them right this instant could be cut with a knife. She tightened her grip around the shirt and clenched her jaw. She couldn't do this, not anymore. "You know what?" She questioned then, "I'm done with this Waverly," she said, shaking her head, "I can't do this, OK? If you wanna be with me, if you're going to be jealous and snappy if I'm with someone else, then go be with me, OK? I think we both know that I would very much love that."

Waverly was quiet then, tongue peeking out to wet her lips as she scanned Nicole's face. Her entire stance softened and her shoulders loosened.

"I've tried being patient, I've tried being friends," Nicole continued, voice growing softer as her eyes met Waverly's, "I've tried doing absolutely everything you seemed to want, and you know what? I can't anymore. I – I care way too much about you, and I know you're trying to protect yourself by not letting anyone in, but this is getting way too hard for me. If you'd rather not have me in your life, say the words and I'll go. I'll find somewhere else to drink my beers and play pool. It'll be like I never even came here with Dolls in the first place."

Tears were forming in Waverly's eyes, and they were spilling over, but she did not move to wipe them away or hide them from Nicole. She just stood there, staring blankly at her with tears streaming down her cheeks, and she looked so small, and so fragile that Nicole wanted to wrap her arms around her to protect her from all harm.

She drew in a shaky breath. "So what's it gonna be, Waverly? Do you want me to leave or to stay?"

Waverly turned her head to the side, averting her eyes and running the back of her hand over her wet cheeks. She breathed in shakily, before wrapping her arms protectively around herself. "Please don't go," she murmured, and it was so low that Nicole barely even heard it.

But she did hear it. And it did strange things to her heart to hear it. She almost felt like bursting into tears herself, but she didn't. She took a step closer, eliminating the space between them, and she could feel Waverly's body heat and it wrapped around her; comforting and securely, just like a cosy blanket. She swallowed thickly. "Yeah?"

Moving her face back to look at Nicole, Waverly's eyes met hers. "Yeah," she whispered, voice cracking.

Nicole's eyes moved over the other woman's face. Her lashes were wet; tears had gathered there in small droplets, and she had mascara stains beneath her eyes. They were shimmering though, green clouded by wetness, and Nicole had never found Waverly more beautiful than she did right this moment. She reached her free hand out, brushing her thumb across a pale cheek, and Waverly nudged her chin towards it, accepting the stroke of affection. Warm lips pressed against Nicole's wrist and she felt her breath hitch.

"I care so much about you," Waverly whispered, voice barely audible as the noise streamed through the closed door from the bar full of people outside. "I can't even…"

Nicole schussed her, "It's okay," she whispered, before letting her arms fall around thin shoulders as she tugged the woman closer, enveloping her in a tight hug. She felt Waverly relax in her arms, head tucked beneath Nicole's chin as she breathed out. Nicole did all she could think of; she hugged her, stood still and just hugged her. She felt like her heart was going to burst right out of her chest with affection and care for this woman in her arms, and she came to the startling realisation that she might just love her.

Waverly's breath was ghosting across her collarbone, and Nicole closed her eyes and breathed in the scent of her peach shampoo.

"Nicole Haught," the smaller woman whispered then, lips brushing against pale skin, "you're truly everything…"

Nicole wasn't quite sure what to do with that information, and she wasn't even sure what this meant for her and Waverly's relationship. They hadn't even talked yet, and perhaps now was not the time for that. But all Nicole really wanted to do was kiss the other woman, tug her closer and never let her go. What was going to happen once this hug was over – which was going to be any second now – and Waverly had to return to Shorty's for her shift and they had to see everyone else? Pulling back slightly, Nicole looked down at her; forcing her to look up with a finger beneath her chin, she smiled. "You're everything to me, Waverly Earp," she promised, before she leaned down to press her lips against Waverly's in a short kiss.

And this kiss was everything her earlier kiss with Rana was not. It was short, sweet, just lips pressing against lips. But it was also toe-curling, tingling and Nicole felt it all the way from the tips of her fingers to the end of her toes. Her heart was thudding madly in her chest, and she never wanted to let Waverly go.

But of course she had to eventually. And this being Shorty's on a Friday night in the middle of Waverly's shift, it had to be right now. Alas, Wynonna came bursting through the door, a frantic look on her face and her hair dishevelled. Only then did Nicole realise that there was a huge commotion going on outside.

"Baby sis, I need your car keys," Wynonna said, door smacking close behind her. If she found their position odd or confusing, she didn't say so, she merely held out her hands, snapping her fingers, demanding the keys.

Waverly grabbed Nicole's discarded button-up and threw it over her shoulders. "Uhm, what?"

"Keys," Wynonna snapped, eyes following Waverly's movements as she tugged the corners of the shirt into a knot above her abdomen; thus revealing a sliver of skin between her skirt and the shirt. She moved to close a few buttons. "To the jeep."

Waverly reached into the pocket on her skirt and handed the keys over. "What do you need my keys for?"

Wynonna was antsy; eyes wavering and feet tripping. "I… kinda sorta need to go find Dolls."

"Dolls?" Nicole questioned, and she felt herself start to panic a little bit. She had no idea what was happening right now, but her senses told her that it wasn't a good thing. Usually her senses were right. Plus, Wynonna did appear to be slightly worried about something. "Where did he go?"

The oldest Earp jiggled the keys and offered her little sister a saying look. "I told him… you-know-what," she whispered, eyes unmoving.

Waverly nodded. "I gather he didn't take it so well?"

Shrugging, Wynonna rested a hand on the doorknob, already with her foot halfway out the door. "I'm not sure, he sorta… he sorta glared at Doc a lot and then just left. But uh, I think he needs me to talk."

Nicole stared between the two Earps as they had their conversation. She could tell that they were saying more than what came out of their mouths; a quiet form of communication was taking place, and it appeared to make a lot of sense for both of them. She cleared her throat. "So Dolls, yeah? Don't break his heart, Earp."

That seemed to get Wynonna into action. She offered Nicole a stiff smile, "I shall try my best, Red, but things are kinda out of my control," she finished, before giving them both a nod and turning to flee the room, keys jiggling as she went.

Turning to look at Waverly, Nicole was trying to make sense of her confusion, "Uhm… so. What's going on?"

Waverly stared up at her then, eyes shimmering and worry lines overtaking her beautiful face. "Wynonna's kinda pregnant," she whispered, not wanting to meet Nicole's eyes. "And we don't know who's the father."

"Oh," Nicole let slip, and suddenly so many things about Wynonna and Waverly's behaviour started to make sense. Like, the way Waverly had been on Wynonna's case constantly, and the way Wynonna had appeared to not mind as much as one would have thought she would.

"Yeah," Waverly softly smiled as she reached a hand out to gently grasp Nicole's. "It's… kind of a mess. Wynonna's been a mess. More so than usual."

Nodding, Nicole turned to look blankly at the door that Wynonna had just passed through, and she honestly had no idea what to do or say. All she could think about was Dolls and how he must be feeling right now, and if he was ever going to be okay. She couldn't even begin to think about whether or not he would be happiest if the child was his or if it wasn't his. What was even going to happen with it? Did Wynonna even want it?

So many questions, and oh fuck it, this was a mess.


	13. Chapter Thirteen: Cold Coffee and Tea

**CHAPTER THIRTEEN: COLD COFFEE AND PEPPERMINT TEA**

Eliza and Dolls' apartment was, and always had been, the perfect mix between the two of them. A mix that held Dolls' immaculate and minimalistic way of living combined with Hurricane Eliza who left a mess of clothes, books, food and whatnot in her wake.

But it somehow worked for them. Nicole suspected that Dolls might actually like getting to silently scold their blonde friend at least once a day for her mess. Or maybe he just wasn't so immaculate after all.

Eliza was slouched across the couch in nothing but a t-shirt and panties, and Dolls was sitting on the recliner with a stiff back and that scary blank look in his eyes. Nicole placed the carrier of take-away coffees on the table and slumped down on the floor, back against the couch.

They didn't say anything for a while. Nicole and Eliza drank their hot beverages; Eliza with slight awkwardness due to her reluctance to actually move herself away from her splayed-out position, and Nicole with a bit more grace as she stared at Dolls through her glasses. His coffee sat in front of him, untouched, and he'd not made one move since Eliza let her into the apartment.

"He's been sitting like that since he came home this morning," Eliza whispered into Nicole's ear, and whispered might be a stretch, because she was pretty sure that Dolls was supposed to hear her dig at him; she definitely said it loud enough for the sound to be carried across the small space between them.

Nicole glared at her for a second, before turning back to look at Dolls. She could feel her worry for him in the pit of her stomach; it had a grip on her, and she wanted to reach out and hug him, but she also knew her friend. She could see the wheels turning inside of his head, his stoic stance slightly crumbling, and she knew she had to give him space just a little bit longer.

"Don't listen to her, X," she sincerely said, not yet daring to reach a hand out to touch his knee. "Take as long as you need."

Eliza made a loud noise of disscontempt and buried her face into the ugly decorative pillow on their couch.

Turning slightly over, Nicole punched her on the thigh. "Don't be such a jerk, Shapiro, why don't you go fuck your redhead again?"

"Mercedes left earlier this morning, I'll have you know," Eliza flatly commented, peeking out at Nicole from behind the pillow. She had leftover make-up smudged at the corners of her eyes, and just the faintest trace of lipstick left on her lips.

"Congratulations," Nicole flatly commented, not tearing her eyes away from her friend's.

Eliza's gaze hardened, "Hey, don't be such a smart-ass, Haught," she grumbled, "Where did you go off to, huh? You can pretend all you want that _I_ should have been more present, but as far as I recall, you left to go to the backroom and it took quite a while before you returned."

Nicole's eyes narrowed in on Eliza and she stuck her tongue out at her. There was just something about Eliza that always made her act like such a five-year-old. And of course she was reminded of exactly why she'd been in the backroom at Shorty's for such a long time last night, and yes, maybe she did feel a little guilty for not being there for Dolls when he'd so obviously needed her, but how could she have known? It's not like Waverly and Wynonna had told her anything, and she'd been kind of busy trying to fix her own love life.

And fix it she _had_. Actually more than anything. Sure, her and Waverly still had a shitload of stuff to figure out, but they'd kissed, and they'd said things, and before Nicole had left to search for Dolls on her bike and Waverly had gone back to her shift, they'd kissed again, and Nicole had felt like soaring around town even if she was immensely worried about Dolls.

"I had to talk to Waverly," she replied then, when Eliza urged her on with an arched eyebrow.

The blonde woman scoffed. Throwing the pillow away from her face and across the room, she pulled herself onto her elbows and looked down at her. "Yeah? And what did that talk amount to, huh? More heartbreak for you, Haught? She still pushing and pulling?"

Nicole straightened her back, offering her friend a glare through her glasses and a smirk on her lips. "A real lady doesn't kiss and tell," was all she let slip, because she knew Eliza was going to catch onto that, because she always did.

"No shit!" Eliza said then, eyes turning wide and a grin overtaking the scold which had been present all morning. She held out her hand, "High five!"

Humouring her, Nicole softly pressed her palm against hers and shook her head in amusement. "High five, Shapiro."

Eliza's grin faded into a genuine smile and she intertwined her fingers with Nicole's, "Good for you, Nic," she whispered sincerely. It wasn't often that Eliza could push away her defensive joking attitude, so when she did, Nicole knew it was something she truly meant.

"You and Waverly got together?"

Shocked by the sudden interruption, Nicole's head whipped around to find that Dolls was looking at her, brown eyes clouded with emotion. He'd turned his head, just an inch, and Nicole took this as a sign that he was recovering, maybe ready to talk? She felt her breath hitch. "Uhm, yeah? Maybe?" She paused, "We kissed, and we're gonna talk, I guess."

Nodding, Dolls reached a hand out to grab his coffee on the table. It was probably almost too cold now, but he took a sip of it anyway, and his face didn't show a thing. His brown eyes swiped over their faces, his brow furrowed. "I think I'm gonna be a father," he said then.

Eliza, who was fiddling with the hem of her t-shirt, looked up at this. "You think?"

Dolls took another sip of his coffee. "Yeah."

"Why do you _think_?" Nicole pried. She wasn't sure what he meant by that and she was honestly very curious. If Dolls was truly the father of Wynonna's baby, and if she was going to keep it, then yeah, he was going to be a father. Did he want to though?

"Wynonna found me yesterday," Dolls said then, his fingers clenching around the cardboard cup in his hands as he spoke – for a second Nicole was worried he might squeeze it too tight and get coffee all over himself. "We didn't talk much, Wynonna mostly just looked at me. But I love her," he revealed.

Nicole wasn't sure what she'd expected Dolls and Wynonna's relationship to be about, mostly because Dolls hadn't spoken much about it. Was she surprised that he loved her? Not really. Because if Dolls had just been in this for the sex, then he would have found someone else to do it with; someone who wasn't sleeping with another guy, and who was less of a chaotic hot mess. But did he want to be with her? Would Wynonna even want that? It was hard to tell.

Eliza breathed out heavily. "What does that mean for, you know… the pregnancy and stuff?"

Dolls breathed out too, leaned his back against the chair and offered them both a small smile. "It means that… no matter what, if Wynonna wants me to, I'll be the father, and we can, I don't know, be a family?"

"Even if it's technically Doc's?" Nicole questioned him. She'd always known that Dolls was a good guy, but had she thought he was _such_ a good guy? Maybe not. But she could see that he meant it.

"Doc is all in," Dolls said then, nodding his head; it seemed like he was mostly doing it for himself, more than for them. "In the way that Doc can be all in. Him and Wynonna don't want to be together, she told me that, but if the baby's his… He wants to be the dad, too."

"Kinda like a weekend-father-thing?" Nicole asked then, furrowing her brow. It sounded like both Doc and Dolls were ready to take on the responsibility, but that maybe Dolls was ready for a lot more than just that.

Dolls nodded, "Yeah."

Eliza finished off her drink, placing the empty cup on the table. "So uh… What does Wynonna want?"

Turning to stare seriously at them both, Dolls just said, "I don't know."

—-

"So uh, how's Dolls?" Waverly lowly questioned, looking softly at Nicole from her seat on the couch. She'd snuggled into the blanket Nicole usually had across the arm of the couch, and she was cradling a giant mug of peppermint tea in her hands. She looked beautiful; tired, and thoroughly confused, but ultimately beautiful. Nicole just wasn't sure why things felt so awkward right now.

The redhead fingered a loose hem on a pillow, before smiling tentatively back at the woman across from her. She was so tired, beat by spending the entire night driving around town on her bike to look for Dolls, and mostly tired because she couldn't get her thoughts to quiet down for even a second; there were so many things going through her mind right now. Dolls. Wynonna. The pregnancy. But also Waverly and their kiss, and what they were supposed to do next. She murmured, "Dolls is… he's okay, I guess. As good as can be. It's pretty much up to Wynonna right now."

Humming, Waverly raised the mug to her lips and took a long sip of the hot liquid. "Wynonna just needs some time. I'm sure it'll work out," she said, when the mug fell back to rest in her lap.

Nicole nodded. She wanted to be sure too, and for the most part she was. Wynonna was awesome – sure, she might be a little messed up, but she was still awesome. "And how are you?"

"About the pregnancy?" Waverly questioned, and there was a certain edge to her voice. "I'm, I'm good about the pregnancy, I mean, I knew about it, even when we went to the hospital, that's why I've been-"

Cutting her off with a saying look in her eyes, Nicole shook her head. "No, not… not about the pregnancy."

Waverly's face fell. "Oh."

"How are you about us?" Nicole forced across her lips. She couldn't honestly explain why she felt so nervous about this conversation, because last night Waverly had sort of made it clear – in her own way – that she didn't want Nicole to leave. But did that mean that she wanted them to be together? Sure, Nicole wanted that, and she'd made it very clear that she expected that if things were to continue on like before. But maybe Waverly had had some time to think about it?

Casting her eyes downwards, Waverly spent the better part of a minute studying the blanket in complete silence. She simply just looked at the pattern, brow furrowed, and the entire apartment was filled with an echoing silence, except when Nicole heard Calamity Jane let out a low purr of enjoyment somewhere in the bedroom.

She reached a hand out, gently placing it atop one of Waverly's, as she quietly said. "Waverly, please just be honest with me."

When Waverly's eyes moved up to meet hers, they were filled to the brim with tears, and Nicole couldn't say that she was entirely surprised. Waverly was a very emotional person. The tears weren't falling though, and it seemed like she was trying very hard to keep herself together. "I'm sorry," she whispered, shaking her head as her voice cracked slightly. "It feels like I'm just always crying these days."

"Oh Waves," Nicole whispered. She really wasn't sure what else there was to say. Maybe she just needed to let Waverly get there on her own accord.

"I care about you so much," Waverly whispered then, not wanting to meet Nicole's gaze. "I've spent the last month trying desperately to keep you at bay even when I wanted nothing more than to keep you close, and you – you with your stupid chivalrous attitude and your stupid, _stupid_ caring, you just… you just kept coming back, even when I was being an absolute jerk to you."

Swallowing thickly, Nicole gently let her hand stroke back and forth on the back of Waverly's.

Waverly licked her lips and queried in a raw whisper, "Why did you keep coming back?"

As if that hadn't been absolutely clear to anybody but Waverly? As if all of their friends hadn't seen it on Nicole's face whenever she was near the other woman? The question was easily answered, and for once Nicole was not frightened to admit it, she just wanted Waverly to hear it, to _know_ it. "Because I love you," she simply replied, as if that was the easiest answer to everything, as if her heart wasn't beating madly in her chest, so madly that it felt like it might beat right out of it.

"Oh," Waverly whimpered, a hand rising to her lips to cover them in silent surprise. A few tears started trailing down her cheeks, and she looked so absolutely fragile, wrapped up in Nicole's giant blanket with her hair in a messy bun.

Nicole smiled softly at her, "I love you, Waverly," she repeated, because it probably wouldn't hurt for the other woman to hear those words again. Nicole suspected it wasn't words that had often been thrown in Waverly's direction.

Shaking her head, Waverly dared not meet her eyes yet. "Well you shouldn't."

Not knowing what to reply to that, Nicole simply just looked at the other woman; it seemed like Waverly had tried so hard to keep herself together, and right now her walls were crumbling down around her, leaving her an open wound, bleeding all over Nicole's old couch. "Why not?" She finally whispered, not even sure if she wanted to hear the answer.

"Because everyone I love dies!" Waverly pulled her hand back, threw them up in exasperation. Her hair was coming undone, brunette strands flying around her face as she spoke. "Everybody leaves! I can't love you, Nicole, because I don't want you to leave. My mother left," she breathed, voice falling from very high to almost inaudible, and Nicole had to lean herself forward on the couch to hear her words. "My mother left, and my father always said it was because of me. Not Willa. Not Wynonna. _Me_ ," she finished. Her voice was cracking, and tears were falling hotly from her wide eyes.

Nicole couldn't even begin to imagine the kind of childhood that Waverly had had. Her life had been so different from the love and care that Nicole experienced with parents and siblings who were always there. And Nicole could only think to herself what kind of man who would blame his youngest daughter for their mother up and leaving them. That kind of man was a not a great man, and Nicole was pretty sure that if anyone had had anything to do with his wife's decision to leave, it was probably him. Nicole made a mental reminder to herself to ask Wynonna about that.

"And guess what?" Waverly continued then, shooting up off the couch to start pacing back and forth in front of Nicole's living room window. She threw her hands up as she spoke, talking animatedly as always. "I believed him because I was only _four_. What kind of man tells his four-year-old daughter something like that?"

'A coward of a man,' Nicole thought to herself, but she didn't say it aloud. She wasn't even sure if Waverly would believe her right now, so all she could do was listen.

Waverly shook her head to herself. She was looking here and there as she spoke; at the floor, at the ceiling, out the window. Nicole could do nothing but watch her. "And then some creep goes ahead and fucking kidnaps my sister, takes her into the woods and does _God knows what_ with her," she continued with a cracking voice, and her walls were crumbling so hard right now that they were landing on the floor in giant heaps, leaving her bare for Nicole to see. "And then Daddy decides that Wynonna and I are not enough for him. We're not worth living for, so he goes ahead and fucking kills himself," she paused, "He left his two children orphans because they took the good one into the woods and killed her."

Nicole could once again only think what she thought of Waverly and Wynonna's father; she knew a good man would not have killed himself like that, left two kids parentless, because he lost a child. Sure, it was a horrible way to lose a kid, Nicole would never say otherwise, but a good man – a good father – would have stayed and fought the fight with his other daughters. She stared up at Waverly then, begging her to see, begging her to understand that this was not her fault. "But Waverly, that was his decision," she whispered, eyes trailing over the fragile woman in front of her, who was leaving it all out for her to see, "that's on _him_. Not you. That could _never_ be your fault."

Waverly averted her eyes, shaking slightly as she hugged herself. "Then how come it feels like it is?"

Reaching a hand out, Nicole leaned slightly forward and grabbed Waverly's cold hand inside her own. She tugged her closer, and Waverly plopped down on the couch next to her. Nicole didn't let go of her hand though, she intertwined their fingers, urging Waverly on with a soft smile. "Then what happened?"

"We lived with Aunt Gus and Uncle Curtis," Waverly softly continued. She seemed tired now, like all of this was taking its toll on her, which it probably was. "But Wynonna, she couldn't handle it. She was older than me, and she was trying so hard to be brave and take on responsibility, but she'd also seen and understood so much more than me," she paused, tears spilling down her cheeks, trailing over her chin and onto her shirt. "so she messed up. A lot. And she got thrown in and out of juvie, and she even got committed once, because she kept seeing ghosts everywhere."

Nicole felt her breath hitch at the revelation, which was something she hadn't been aware of. It was no wonder that Waverly and Wynonna were the way they were; actually it was a wonder that they were so well-adjusted compared to everything. Sure, Wynonna handled things in her own way, and it seemed like Waverly had tried to handle things by not really handling them – which was biting her in the butt right now for sure – but they were good in spite of all these tragedies.

Raising their intertwined hands to her lips, Nicole kissed Waverly's knuckles.

"And then Uncle Curtis fucking died on me too, and it was just Aunt Gus and I," Waverly finally slipped out, voice hoarse and worn out, like she'd used up all the air inside of her, and she just wanted to sleep. "So you know what, Nicole?" She questioned, finally raising wet eyes to meet Nicole's concerned ones, "I've been scared to let you in, because I don't want to love you, because everyone I love just ends up leaving me, and I don't want you to leave…" she trailed off, and even though it was clear that she wanted to avert her eyes from Nicole's stare, she stayed there, locking their gaze. "I don't know if I could handle it if you did."

"Oh Waves," Nicole breathed, reaching her free hand out to touch it gently to Waverly's cheek. Everything about this situation was messed up, and she could feel Waverly's heartbreak so deeply within herself. She wished she could remove some of it; take it away from her, to ease her burden. But she couldn't do that, because that was Waverly's heartbreak to carry. But she could make it easier; she could love her, take care of her, and show her that not everybody was going to leave her just because her parents had been horrible, and some terrible people had done a horrific thing to her sister.

Waverly whimpered, nudging her head into Nicole's palm.

Squeezing her eyes tightly shut for a second, Nicole tried once more to just be honest. "I could _never_ leave you, Waverly Earp," she whispered, voice cracking, "I've never cared about anyone the way that I care about you."

"I'm so, so sorry, Nicole," Waverly whispered, green eyes sparkling with wetness. "I didn't want to be a jerk, but I was, and there's no excuse, not even this, and you're just here still," she breathed out, "with your perfect dimples and your beautiful red hair, and you're kind, and sweet, and you treat me better than anyone has ever done before."

Chuckling, Nicole kissed her knuckles once more, before moving her lips up Waverly's wrist to press kisses there. She breathed in through her nose, truly taken with this woman in front of her, who – even if life had dealt her a horrible hand – was still able to love and care so deeply. No one had ever been as beautiful in Nicole's eyes as Waverly Earp. Broken, horribly so, but still so, so beautiful.

Waverly whimpered, reaching her free hand out to cup Nicole's cheek too. "I got so scared," she whispered, her breath ghosting across Nicole's hand. It seemed like she was inching just a little bit closer.

"And I got so stubborn," Nicole joked, threading her fingers through escaped strands of brunette locks. She couldn't tare her eyes away from Waverly's.

Waverly let out a breathy chuckle as well. "So incredibly stubborn," she mused, "and I just put up my walls and acted like a jerk, and you should have called me on my absolute bullshit, but you didn't, and that makes you even sweeter," she finished, shaking her head to herself. Her hand was trailing from Nicole's cheek to the nape of her neck, and her fingers were finding Nicole's hair there, and it was all so insanely comfortable and familiar.

Nicole couldn't hide the smile that came onto her face then, and she felt her dimples blooming as she leaned closer to the other woman. Their noses were almost touching. "Thank you for being honest with me," she whispered, and she was finding it incredibly hard not to press her lips against Waverly's. She settled for nudging her nose against hers instead.

"Thank you for being stubborn," Waverly whispered, her gaze flicking to Nicole's lips for just a second.

Nicole hummed. "So what I take from this rant is that you love me, yeah? Otherwise you wouldn't have been pushing me away quite so hard," she murmured, just to clarify. She was pretty sure that she was reading this situation correctly, but she had to be certain. After everything that had happened, she really had to be certain.

Rolling her eyes, Waverly said, "Yes, Nicole, you're tall, you're beautiful, you're _stupidly_ stubborn, and I love the crap out of you."

Feeling those words directed towards her from that perfect mouth, Nicole closed the distance between them and pressed her lips against Waverly's. She felt the younger woman draw in a shaky breath, and Nicole was not deterred. She pulled her closer, if even possible, pressed herself against Waverly and wrapped herself around her. Waverly's fingers were in her hair, on her shoulder, and she heard her whimper into her mouth, and all Nicole could think about was the fact that she truly loved this woman. How had that just happened? How had that cute bartender from Shorty's turned out to be everything to her – even when she hadn't even wanted to go to Shorty's in the first place?

Waverly's fingers scratched against her bare arm, and Nicole pulled back, resting their foreheads together. "You're the most beautiful woman I have ever met," she whispered.

Dazed, Waverly breathed out. "Do you think Calamity Jane would hate me terribly if we were to kick her out of your bedroom right now?"

Nicole felt a pang of want all the way from her heart to right between her legs. "Nah, she'll live," she breathed, brushed the pad of her thumb against Waverly's cheek, catching a few leftover tears. "Are you sure though? I don't mind waiting."

"I don't want to wait," Waverly breathed out, and her lips curled into a genuine smile. "I've been waiting for what feels like forever and honestly… I just want to be close to you."

Pressing her lips to Waverly's in a chaste kiss, Nicole could not disagree. She wanted to be close to Waverly too. Desperately. She tugged at the younger woman's hand. "Come on then," she whispered, and her eyes were full of promises, "I'll throw CJ out, because I don't want her to hate you."

Breaking into a laugh, Waverly brushed pass Nicole and straight into the bedroom. She knew the way there after all.


	14. Chapter Fourteen: A Picture on the Wall

**CHAPTER FOURTEEN: A PICTURE ON THE WALL MOMENT**

"But like," Waverly pulled back from where her head was situated between Nicole's thighs, lifting her hand to quickly wipe some moisture from her chin, and Nicole's eyes followed her every movement; annoyed by the interruption and the sudden lack of Waverly's warm tongue on her sex. "You are coming right?"

Groaning, Nicole dropped her head back onto the pillow and stared up at the ceiling. Was Waverly seriously pulling this? Right this exact moment? When she had her head between Nicole's legs and Nicole's orgasm was fast-approaching. "Waverly," she hoarsely breathed, fingers clenching around the sheets on her bed. She wanted to talk about coming, but she had a sneaky suspicion that Waverly was referring to something else entirely.

Waverly breathed out, "Nicole."

Lifting her head again, Nicole stared down at her girlfriend (sure, they hadn't really had the talk about that label yet, but Nicole figured they were heading there anyway). "You wanna talk about this right now?" She heard herself whine. Her body was covered in a thin layer of sweat, and it was pretty hard to concentrate when her pulse was beating rapidly, and she felt the sticky wetness between her thighs.

Offering her a devilish smile, Waverly said, "I just wanna make sure that you're coming," she innocently continued, and her voice far from matched the look on her face.

Nicole glared at her. "I was coming, Waverly," she groaned, "right now, I was coming," she leaned herself onto her elbows and used her other hand to lightly press down on the back of Waverly's head. "Now, can we please get back to this?"

Resisting the push, Waverly's eyes shone with mischief. "Well, don't you love me?" She questioned then, and she was totally pulling out all the stops right now, and Nicole hated her for it. It was easy for her to play coy when she was already two orgasms into this thing.

The redhead squeezed her eyes shut and huffed out air. Dropping her hand back to the mattress, she said. "Yes, I love you Waverly, but this isn't about that," she argued, and a gust of wind from the open window hit her already stiff nipple. Waverly was seriously being unfair right now.

"Then why won't you confirm to me that you're coming?" Waverly questioned. She rearranged herself between Nicole's legs, the mattress shifting slightly as she reached out a finger and lightly – almost too lightly – brushed it over Nicole's heated sex. Just once, twice, before her hand was back to resting on Nicole's knee.

It wasn't that Nicole didn't want to come to the LGBTQIA Society's sit-in activism for gender neutral bathrooms on campus, it was just that she really didn't want to come to the LGBTQIA Society's sit-in activism for gender neutral bathrooms on campus. She really, _really_ didn't. It was cool for Waverly to be an activist and make signs and go do that stuff with Jeremy and Taylor and Rosita, but it had never really been Nicole's thing. Not quite like that. Sure, she cared about the issues, and she wanted everyone to be safe and feel comfortable on campus, but she didn't quite like the idea that she might get involved in something that could perhaps get on her record. She had a future career planned in law enforcement and all that, never mind that it was a peaceful protest and their right as Canadian citizens (Waverly's words, not hers). Plus, she had her exams and papers due, and it was just really, really silly to sit in front of the most crowded bathroom in the main building for only God knew how long.

Waverly pressed her hot lips to the inside of Nicole's thigh then, slowly trailing kisses upwards, towards the place that they both knew Nicole wanted her mouth more than anything right now. "Nicole," she breathed out between kisses, "just say," she kissed again, having almost reached her goal, which made Nicole squirm uncomfortably against the mattress, "you'll come."

Groaning, Nicole tried to use her hand once more, pressing Waverly's face towards her body. "Come on, Waves," she breathed out, and she was almost certain that she was going to lose her mind if Waverly didn't start back up with that tongue of hers again soon, "you're killing me."

"Just say you'll come," Waverly innocently whispered as her tongue stroked through Nicole's folds, finding her throbbing clit, "If you say you'll come, I'm gonna make you come right now," she promised.

Tangling her fingers in Waverly's brunette locks, Nicole felt her breath hitch in her throat. Oh, who was she kidding anyway? She was always going to come to that damn sit-in because that was just the kind of girlfriend that she was. Plus, she really did want to see Waverly's beautiful face light up when she really cared about something. Feeling herself nod into the pillow, Nicole situated herself against the mattress as she breathed out heavily. "Fine, fine, I'll come," she murmured grumpily, her hips raising off the mattress as Waverly flicked her tongue against her.

She could feel Waverly's lips curl into a smile against her slit, and she knew she had made the right decision.

"Very good girl," Waverly murmured, before she dove right in, burying her tongue inside of Nicole and wrapping her hands around her smooth thighs. Nicole's back arched off the bed and she heard herself let out a low guttural moan.

This woman was killing her.

"Ms. Earp, I'm sure we can find an easier way to settle this," the very tired – but also slightly amused – campus security guard told them, as he stood in front of them, slightly scratching his head. Nicole was sure that it wasn't everyday that students camped out in front of the bathrooms in the main hall in the main building at the University of Alberta.

Waverly, looking up from where she was bent over, colouring in a sign that she had written last night, looked absolutely exasperated at his suggestion. "I'm really certain that we cannot, Security Guard Smith, because as you very well know, the dean declined out petition for the gender neutral bathrooms, so this sit-in is our only option," she rattled off, bending her head to to finish the 's' in her sign.

 _There are more than two genders_ it read.

Security Guard Smith shook his head, "Ms. Earp, how long are you planning to stay out here for?"

"As long as it takes!" Waverly enthusiastically replied, before standing up and turning her sign over. She held it up with both hands, smiling at the small crowd and the unsuspecting passer-bys at the moment. "There are more than two genders!" She yelled eagerly, "We need more than two bathrooms!"

Groaning to herself, Nicole huddled into the small cocoon of blankets she had made for herself against the wall. She was wearing her U of A sweatshirt with one of her black caps tugged all the way down her forehead. She really admired Waverly's determination, but if she was going to do this, she wasn't going to be holding any signs; she'd just stay in her cocoon of warmth and drink the coffee Waverly had brought in no more than three thermoses.

Also, one thing she couldn't believe was the fact that she and Waverly were currently _all_ the people who had showed up for this sit-in. That's right. No Rosita. No Jeremy and Taylor. Not friggin' anyone from the LGBTQIA Society. Where the heck were they? Nicole pulled out her phone and shot off a group text to Eliza and Dolls. Sure, this wasn't their fight, but she was sure she could persuade them into coming anyway.

"Hey good sir, support our fight for gender neutral bathrooms all over campus," Waverly stuck a flyer into the face of a fellow student who took one look at it and hurried off down the busy hallway. "How would you feel if you had nowhere to pee!" Waverly yelled after him, throwing the flyer to the ground in annoyance.

"Hey Waves," Nicole said then, looking up from her phone where both Dolls and Eliza had mysteriously read the text but weren't replying, "do you think maybe you can come sit down next to me? You don't need to use up all your energy at once, you know?"

Sighing, Waverly placed her sign against the wall and took a seat next to Nicole – they were directly in front of the entrance to the bathrooms. Sure, she knew that this was the busiest bathroom on the entire campus, but what was the point even, if the other students could just go a few hallways over and pee there? Nicole had been very reluctant to point out this flaw to Waverly one time, and they hadn't discussed it since.

Stepping slightly closer, Security Guard Smith looked directly at Nicole. "Ms. Haught, is that you?" He questioned then, and the surprise was evident on his face. Nicole had spent more than a little time previously talking to him about security measures on campus, and he was quite a nice man actually. She'd even shared a lunch with him in his office once, because he'd invited her in for coffee and then time had flown by while they'd been discussing the flawed cameras that the school had budgeted for them.

Staring straight up at him, Nicole tugged her cap further down her eyes and shook her head. She couldn't risk her name getting anywhere near this; not if she wanted to be certain that she could apply everywhere after she was done with school. "Nope," she said, shaking her head even more for added emphasis, "I'm uh," she paused, biting her tongue as she tried to make something up, "Mercedes," she said then, remembering Waverly's co-worker from the bar who was a fellow redhead. Nicole was sure she didn't mind, "Mercedes Gartner."

Flipping out his notebook from his pocket, Security Guard Smith uncapped his pen and said to them. "I'm sorry, I'm going to have to write you up. I'm sure the dean will want to know your names."

"That's Mercedes as the car," Nicole quickly said then, before going back to her coffee.

Waverly huffed, clearly she wasn't amused by the turn of events this important day for justice. "I'll have you know, Mr. Security Guard Smith, that we are allowed to have a peaceful protest on school grounds! It's our right as Canadian citizens, and I will not stand for this injustice!"

Nicole really admired Waverly's spunk, it was one of the most wonderful things about her. "Waves," she said though, carefully placing a hand on Waverly's bare wrist. "The man's just doing his job, yeah? I'm sure he won't remove us forcefully," she assured her girlfriend. At least she hoped he wouldn't.

Falling back into her seat, Waverly glared at Security Guard Smith as he shuffled off, no doubt for just a little while, before he would be back. "I can't believe the others aren't here," she murmured, pouring coffee into her mug and pulling out a donut, which she offered to Nicole, "I mean, how are we supposed to show how important this issue is when we're the only ones showing up? I can't believe Rosita Burstillos, the nerve of that girl!"

Chuckling, Nicole bit into the vanilla glazed donut (her favourite, boy, was her girlfriend awesome?), and as she chewed, she said, "I'm sure they'll come. They've got all day, you know? And there's exams and stuff. They'll be here," she assured Waverly, even though she was doubting her own words. It did baffle her that their friends hadn't showed up – the other people from the society, sure, she didn't know them, and therefore couldn't count on their efforts, but their friends? Something was amiss.

"Yeah," Waverly said then, nodding her head and taking a gulp of coffee, "yeah, you're probably right, Nicky, they'll be here," she whispered, evidently trying to convince herself.

Looking around the hallway, which was bustling with activity, Nicole paused when she saw Shae getting closer to where a small crowd was gathered in front of them. Great, just exactly what she needed right now, to deal with Shae!? Sure, they were friends now, after their last talk, but this was maybe overdoing it a little? Right now she wished she really was Mercedes Gartner.

"Nicole?" Shae questioned then, pausing in front of them and hoisting her bag onto her shoulder. What was she even doing in this building right now? The med. students usually never bothered to come here! "What are you doing?"

"Lady Doctor Shae Pressman!" Waverly excitedly exclaimed, shooting out of her seat and reaching forward to grab Shae's hand, "Come sit with us for justice!"

Baffled, Shae followed Waverly's hand and was thrust onto a pillow between Nicole and Waverly. "Uh sure?" She mumbled, dropping her bag in front of her and looking at Nicole with questions in her brown eyes. "What kind of justice?"

"Gender neutral bathrooms," Nicole confirmed, motioning towards the door they were guarding.

Shae nodded her head, "I didn't know you cared this much about social justice? It never really appeared to be your thing before," she flatly commented.

Offering her a pointed glare, Nicole motioned almost invisibly towards Waverly (who was busy shooting off angry facebook-messages to the other society members), and it seemed to dawn on Shae why exactly Nicole was present at this thing. "Of course I care," Nicole said though, just for good measure.

Making a face, Shae reached over and grabbed one of the spare cups in Waverly's giant bag, "If I'm gonna be here, I'll be having coffee," she commented, before unscrewing the lid on the nearest thermos.

Nicole motioned for her to go ahead, and she took a gulp of her own lukewarm coffee. "Why are you even in this building?"

"My girl's having an exam, I just walked her," Shae explained, smiling softly at Nicole. "Why are you only two people though? Wouldn't this be more effective if you guys, I don't know, sat at other bathrooms as well?"

"Our friends are stupid no-shows," Waverly grumpily told her, not looking up from her phone.

Not wanting Shae to meet miffed Waverly just quite yet, Nicole pointed towards a blonde head of hair bouncing down the hallway. It looked slightly familiar, and maybe that could get Waverly's attention. "Hey Waves, isn't that Eliza over there?"

Looking up from her phone, Waverly quickly jumped out of her seat and scurried after the disappearing blonde head. "Eliza Shapiro!" She yelled, and she sounded only mildly pissed, "You get back here right now, you coward!"

Nicole was sure she heard an over-exaggerated yelp from down the hall, and had no doubts that it indeed was Eliza – who was now trying to run away.

Laughing, Shae turned to Nicole, "So are you dating now?"

"We figured it out," Nicole replied as she reached for an apple and took a bite of it. "It took a while, but we're good now."

Shae sipped her coffee. "I'm glad. You look happy."

Nicole smiled. "I'm so happy."

Reaching for an apple as well, Shae tossed it into the air once, twice, before biting into it. "So is she coming to your parents' anniversary thingy?" She questioned, and she stretched her legs out in front of her in the hallway, appearing to accept her fate as a part of this sit-in. Nicole thought it was quite funny; Shae looked so out of place in her gorgeously poised state, with an expensive dress and high heels, and that hair perfectly coiffed. She'd never thought she'd ever see Shae Pressman sitting on the dirty hallway floor, which might be why they hadn't worked that well together after all.

What surprised her most this instant though was the fact that Shae apparently remembered that her parents' wedding anniversary was coming up. "You remember that?" She questioned, unable to hide her surprise as she mirrored Shae's position, feeling very at ease and happy with the current flow that their relationship had. It was nice – not to be arguing all the time.

Shae scoffed, "Don't be so surprised, I listened to things," she commented, continuously chewing on her apple, "I admit, I might have been uptight and a bit disinterested in the end, but that was only because you checked out of our relationship months before that."

"I did not," Nicole retorted, even though Shae's statement gave her pause. Had she though? The last few months spent with Shae were admittedly a bit hazy.

The beautiful dark-skinned woman raised an amused eyebrow. "You so did," she replied, "not that I blame you. Our relationship was great in the beginning when it was new and exciting and the sex was mind blowing, but later all the fire just…" she trailed off, apparently not sure how to end her sentence.

Nicole decided to do it for her, "…fizzled out, yeah?"

"Sure," Shae confirmed, nodding her head, pearl earrings glistening in the fluorescent lights of the hallway. "Anyway, send your parents my regards. I'm sure they'll love Waverly, she seems to have spunk."

Confirming Shae's assumption with a nod, Nicole said, "I think they will too. They invited her before we were even together. I found them chatting on Skype one day, it was super mortifying."

Laughter bubbled out of Shae's mouth then, and she looked thoroughly amused. "Ha, yeah, I can imagine that," she commented, before throwing the core of her apple into the makeshift litter-box Waverly had made of a cardboard box and a plastic bag.

There was a loud clearing of a throat next to them, and Nicole turned her head – surprised that someone had actually stopped in front of them, instead of just ignoring them as all the other students had been doing all day. It wasn't a student though. The security guard was back, and he looked only slightly surprised to see a new face in front of the bathrooms.

"Alright," he sighed, flipping out his notebook with a pointed look at Shae, "and you are?"

—

Waverly came back with a fuming Eliza, and mere seconds later, Jeremy and Taylor appeared, dragging a pissed-off Rosita, who very much did not appreciated being dragged away from her morning after with Rana (Nicole was pleased to know that those two were hitting it off so greatly). They all greeted each other, and Jeremy spent the first five minutes trying to appease Waverly's foul mood, which evidently worked, because thirty minutes after, they were all having a much more relaxed time sitting in front of the bathrooms.

Eager to show off her signs and flyers, Waverly often paced around in front of the others, Taylor zigzagging through students to hand them flyers with their slogans and their bullet points. Waverly and them had spent many hours huddled together in front of the computer to make them, at Taylor perhaps cared more about this issue than Waverly did, after all, they always had to choose between two wrong, not quite adequate boxes whenever using the bathrooms on campus.

Some other students were showing their support by stopping to chat for a bit, and some of Waverly's friends from her Feminist 101 class started chanting in support when they passed by. Waverly's mood was drastically uplifting, and Nicole could hardly contain her grin when she watched her. Waverly just had so much passion and heart in everything that she did, and Nicole could hardly wait to introduce her to her parents. She was sure that every Haught would love Waverly Earp, because how could they not? And even though she'd known Waverly for what was a scarily short time considering the intensity of her feelings, Nicole was sure she was going to marry this woman one day. If Waverly agreed to get married anyway; something about not wanting to buy into an institution as discriminating as matrimony or something like that. Nicole was sure she'd be able to change her mind though – there was just something so romantic about the notion of marriage.

Security Guard Smith went back and forth between them and his other duties all day long, and it seemed like every time he returned, someone new had joined their sit-in. Dolls ended up showing up too, just a little past two in the afternoon, looking happier than he had in a long time. Nicole suspected that him and Wynonna had worked through their differences and she couldn't wait to go out for a beer with him soon so she could hear how everything had worked out.

"So like, are you ever gonna thank us?" Jeremy said then, as he and Taylor fell to the floor on either side of her, shoulders brushing against hers.

Nicole raised them an eyebrow. "Thank you?"

Taylor nodded their head, "You know, for services rendered."

Even more confused than before, Nicole said, "Seriously, I'm super lost, you gotta help me out, guys."

"For our continuous support of and belief in Wayhaught!" Jeremy eagerly slipped, and there was a giant satisfied grin on his face. "We knew you could do it, by the way, we always had faith in you."

"It never once wavered," Taylor confirmed as they pushed their glasses to the bridge of their nose.

Nicole shook her head at her silly friends, her chest filling with love and care for the two lovable goofballs next to her. She couldn't quite believe how much her life had changed in the span of a few months – ever since that faithful afternoon where Eliza and Dolls cornered her after class to force her to have a beer with them. She would have perhaps never met Waverly then, not if Dolls had given up on his interest in Wynonna, and then she wouldn't have gotten to know Rosita, Jeremy and Taylor either. And right now she simply couldn't imagine what her life would be like if she didn't. She was sure her parents felt a positive change in her as well, at least if her father's looks and her mother's babbling was anything to go by whenever they Skyped.

"I love you guys," Nicole honestly told them then, her eyes trained firmly on the floor.

Taylor wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "We love you too, Nicky."

" _Always_ ," Jeremy cheekily grinned, and Nicole had a sneaky suspicion he was never going to stop throwing in a Harry Potter reference whenever the situation was mildly appropriate.

"Security Guard Smith! Dean Cryderman!" Waverly's exclamation pulled them out of their conversation.

Security Guard Smith was back, and he looked tired, like he just about wished that this sit-in was over. And indeed, the dean was with him, looking pissed off and murderous. Security Guard Smith shuffled closer then, unfolding a piece of paper in front of him as he said, "The dean will still not accept your proposition, Ms. Earp, other affected people," he said, acknowledging the rest of them with a curt nod, "And thus he informs me that I have to tell you, that he will allow these shenanigans until the end of today, but if you are not gone by tomorrow, he will have you forcefully removed."

Nicole felt her throat tighten in worry, and she felt Jeremy stiffen next to her as well. Dean Cryderman looked absolutely thrilled though, pleased to have them threatened and get some order in his hallway.

Waverly shot out of her seat then, forcefully shoving a flyer into the dean's face. "I will have you know that it is our right-"

"It is our right," a voice interrupted them then, and Nicole's head shot to the side, surprised by the interruption, and even more surprised to find Wynonna strolling into their midst, parting the gathered on-lookers with a saunter of her hips and the lit cigarette in her hand.

Doc was trailing right behind her, hat perched as per usual on top of his head, and a cigarette hanging from his lips as well. He was puffing out grey smoke in clouds.

"Wynonna," Waverly said, eyes fixated on the cigarette between her sister's fingers, and Nicole knew instantly that she was thinking about the baby.

Wynonna glared at her sister, demanding her to be quiet for the moment. "It is our right as students to protest discrimination," Wynonna said then, turning to look at the dean and the security guard who was looking at the two new protesters with disdain and something resembling disgust.

Folding the piece of paper into his back pocket, Security Guard Smith said, "Uhm-"

"Do you even go to this school?" Dean Cryderman demanded to know then. His eyes were travelling over Wynonna's leather-clad form, to her unruly hair, before landing on the cigarette in her hand.

Wynonna dropped the cigarette to the ground and stomped it out for good measure. "I do not," she said then, staring at the older man with determination, "But I am Wynonna Earp-"

"Of course you are," Security Guard Smith sighed, glancing briefly at Waverly.

"-and I'm here," Wynonna continued, stepping closer to their tiny group of protesters to stand side-by-side with Waverly, "because bisexuality is erased in the media and in society and because whenever my good friend Taylor," (Nicole was pretty sure Wynonna had never actually exchanged one word with Taylor before, so to call them friends was a bit of a stretch), "has to use the bathroom, they have to fucking _choose_ between two ill-fitting boxes labelled 'male' and 'female'," she paused, motioning towards the door they had been guarding since six o'clock this morning.

Waverly smiled happily up at her big sister, and Nicole was certain that at this point Wynonna was just spewing out what Waverly had – without a doubt – rattled on to her about a million times mixed with her own special brand of improvised bullshit, but it appeared to be working, because at least the two men were listening. And they were gathering an even bigger audience in the form of students going to and coming from their classes.

Wynonna continued, "Not every person in this world is either male or female, Dean Cryderman," she said, nodding her head in a know-it-all fashion, "Some people are both, some people are neither, and some people like to mix shit up, ya'know?" She asked him the rhetorical question, but didn't give him time to answer. "But I think we can both agree on the fact that it is not fair that not all students of this university has a safe space to do their business, and moreover, nobody should be forced to make a choice between two genders that doesn't fit them. How would you feel it if you were forced to label yourself as something you weren't?"

Dean Cryderman's eyes narrowed in on her as the words hung in the air between them. He watched her for a few seconds, before he lowered his eyes to the flyer in his hand, his eyes scanning over the text written there. They all held their breaths in excitement – what was he going to say? Nicole could see Waverly's hand clutch tightly onto Wynonna's, and she felt her heart thud in hope for her girlfriend's mission.

Sucking in a breath, Wynonna added, just to fully answer the dean's earlier question about her reasons for being there, "and also… I was told there would be donuts."

Leaning forward, Eliza offered her a colourful sprinkled one from the box by nudging it gently to her hand. Looking down at her, Wynonna grabbed the donut and bit into it with an amused, "Oh thanks," before turning back to stare at Dean Cryderman in expectance.

Lowering the paper back down, he turned to Waverly, "Would your demands be satisfied for now if I were to allow one gender-neutral bathroom on campus?" He questioned her, and when Waverly opened her mouth to object, he added, "As a trial basis of course. We'll try it out, see how the students like it. Does that sound good to you, Ms. Earp?"

Turning her head, Waverly's eyes met Taylor's, and the two of them had a silent conversation just with their eyes for a few seconds, as everyone else held their breaths in excitement. Nicole could hardly contain herself. She definitely thought that they should take this; it was more than what she had thought they would get for sure, and there was even the possibility of more as it was only a trial basis. Trial meant good, right? If it went well, they would get more.

Waverly turned back around after a good minute and smiled warmly at Dean Cryderman, "Okay, Dean Cryderman, you've got yourself a deal," she exclaimed then as a huge smile overtook her features. She stepped forward, offering her hand out to shake on it.

He reluctantly reached his hand out as well, meetings hers in a firm shake. But he didn't let her go quite yet, he pulled her slightly closer and offered her a firm look. "And this situation going on right here in the middle of my hallway?" He wanted to know.

"Consider it over and done with," Waverly replied, meeting his gaze head-on.

"Good," he replied, before he dropped her hand and turned to walk down the hallway, the sea of students parting before him as he went. He stomped slightly, probably to underline his displeasure with the current turn of events, and the entire hallway was quiet until they saw him round a corner, and then everybody shot out of their seats in a giant cheer.

"Fuck yeah!" Taylor hollered, jumping onto Waverly and wrapping their arms around her in a giant hug. "You fucking did it, Waves!"

Rosita wrapped her arms around them too, pressing kisses to both of their faces. "Fuck, after all this time we finally have the friggin' bathroom, one friggin' bathroom," she mused, and Nicole – even if she hadn't been a part of this project for very long – could tell that this was a huge win. And that it was something that they'd been working on for a very long time apparently. "I thought for a second there that you weren't gonna accept it," Rosita continued, slightly amused, "that you guys were gonna demand more."

Nicole didn't want to interrupt their little three-way hug, not even as it turned into a four-way hug when Jeremy wrapped his arms around them as well, because she felt like this was their moment; something the four of them had been working on together for a long time, before any of the others even joined the picture. She saw out of the corner of her eye how Shae offered her a thumbs-up though, and how Dolls was hugging Eliza sideways in his own stoic fashion.

"Man, it was like Harry and Voldemort in their final battle of Hogwarts," Jeremy mused to Taylor, as the four pulled apart, and Nicole finally felt it was an appropriate time to pull Waverly into her herself, wrapping her arms around the smaller girl and pressing repeated kisses to her lips.

"You were awesome," she said, combing her fingers through her hair and staring directly into the green eyes she had come to know so well.

Waverly's cheeks tinted over in a faint blush. "I couldn't have done it without you," she whispered, pressing her lips to Nicole's once more, "If you hadn't been here this morning, I would probably have left before anyone else had time to show up."

Nicole shook her head. "No you wouldn't," she whispered back, because she knew it was true. Waverly cared way too much about this to just give up and go home – even if she had to face it alone.

"So, we better gather our shit, yeah?" Wynonna interrupted them all then, glancing around the hallway filled with their stuff as she came to place an arm around Waverly's shoulders too, "And don't worry, baby-girl, the cigarette was just for show, I didn't suck it," she teased, a devilish grin overtaking her features.

Waverly rolled her eyes.

Security Guard Smith interrupted them then, "Hey, wait a second," he said, flipping out his phone and holding it up for them as an explanation, "I need a picture of you guys for my office wall. It's the first time anyone has managed to convince Dean Cryderman of anything," he said with amusement, and it felt very much like he was congratulating and admiring them in his own way.

"Security Guard Smith," Waverly abashedly teased, before everyone started gathering around her and Nicole and Wynonna to take a group picture. Even Shae squeezed herself in the back, wanting to be a part of this moment.

Security Guard Smith held out his phone, "Congratulations, Ms. Earp, you finally did it," he said, and Nicole leaned down to press a kiss against Waverly's temple. "Say gender-neutral bathrooms!"

"Gender-neutral bathrooms!" They all chorused, and Nicole swore that she was going to stop by the security office to get a printed copy of this picture.

It felt like a moment for her new and improved picture wall.


	15. Chapter Fifteen: The Wedding Anniversary

**CHAPET FIFTEEN: THE HAUGHT WEDDING ANNIVERSARY**

The second they stepped through the small gate – Waverly with her carry-on trailing behind her, and Nicole with her duffel bag above one arm, and the other around Waverly's shoulders – she had to drop everything, because a tall and gangly 50 pound seven-year-old had flung himself into her arms.

Chuckling, Nicole grunted as she hugged her little brother tight; she was sure he hadn't been this heavy when she saw him at Christmas. "What is Ma and Paps feeding you?" She laughed, as she pressed a kiss to his forehead, their brown eyes locking as he stared up at her.

"Food!" Neville laughed, and he was clearly reluctant to let her go. He buried his head into her neck again and wrapped his legs around her midsection.

Meeting Waverly's eyes above his head, Nicole motioned towards her bag on the ground. "Can you get that?" She asked her girlfriend (because they'd had that conversation two weeks ago, thank you very much), as she turned her head to look around the hall to find their ride and the person responsible for Neville's presence in the airport.

Waverly grabbed the bag and slung it over her shoulder, scouring the place as well, as they made their way through the throng of people at arrivals. She had been fidgeting nervously on the entire flight, worried what Nicole's family might think of her, and concerned about the fact that she was going to be away from a pregnant Wynonna for five days straight.

"Relax, babe, Dolls will be at your place with her for the entire time," Nicole had tried to reassure her, while Wynonna's efforts had been more along the lines of, "Get out of my face, baby girl, I'll try to minimise my intake of booze while you're gone," which had been supposed to sound crude, but was evidently not, because at the same time she had been decorating the nursery in their home, pregnant belly protruding.

"Oh, there!" Waverly suddenly exclaimed, eagerly pointing a finger to the left, "I see another Weasley! Incoming," she joked, striding in front of Nicole towards who Nicole now recognised as her other brother.

"Nicki," Nathaniel exclaimed, and Nicole could tell just how much he had missed her, "God damn, you grow an extra inch or somethin'?" He tried to joke as he leaned forward and offered her an awkward hug (Neville was still holding on for dear life).

"Never got over the fact that I'm taller than you, did ya'," Nicole teased right back, but she could hardly contain her smile.

Nathaniel's face shone with mirth, "You're not taller than me."

The two siblings stared at each other for a few seconds then, and Nicole let her eyes trail over her brother's scruffy face. His red hair had grown slightly longer, curling at the ends, and he was definitely trying to grow that full beard he'd always wanted to have, but his last girlfriend had hated. He looked good, she mused to herself, eyes settling on the dimples she was pretty sure was mirrored on her own face right now.

Then Waverly cleared her throat, and the three Haught siblings all turned their heads to find a tiny brunette tapping her foot expectantly against the tiled floor. "Uhm hi?" Waverly tried then, green eyes shining with amusement.

"Shit," Nathaniel let out, quickly wiping his hand off in his jeans and sticking it out, "You must be Waverly, yeah? I'm Nate, and I'm definitely the better looking Haught."

Scrunching up her nose in the cute way that she did, Waverly shook his hand. "Waverly Earp," she murmured, "and I'm pretty sure I'm currently dating the best looking Haught around."

Nicole felt her face grow hot – not quite used to the way that Waverly had no problem expressing her love and affection so easily for everybody to see – and bit her lip to hide a smile. She pressed a kiss to the side of Neville's head. "Off with you now, Nev," she whispered into his ear. He was growing quite heavy, and they needed to get a move on to make dinner at her parents'.

Reluctantly, Neville slid to the floor and turned to offer Waverly a smile too. "I'm Neville, and Nicole's my sister," he proudly said, and as he opened his mouth to speak, they all witnessed his one missing front tooth.

Waverly took his declaration very seriously, "And I'm Waverly, and Nicole's my girlfriend," she replied, looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

Neville watched her for a few seconds, taking in the foreign woman in front of him, but eventually he seemed to deem everything okay, because he nodded his head and stuck his hand into Nicole's. "You're not tall," he stated then, as a matter of fact.

Nathaniel broke into a huge laugh, and Nicole had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep herself from laughing aloud too. Waverly simply looked on, clearly amused and totally enamoured by Nicole's baby brother. "And you're _very_ tall," she gushed, offering him an acknowledging nod.

Dragging Nicole with him towards the car, Neville started to talk about something at home in his room, and Nathaniel offered to grab Nicole's bag, while Waverly trailed along next to them. Nicole caught her eye for a second, as they stopped to remember where they parked the car, and softly mouthed an 'You OK?'. Waverly nodded, strands of long brown hair blowing in the wind, and Nicole felt a sense of happiness settle in her stomach. This was going to be a good extended weekend, she was sure of it.

After her and Waverly officially got together, which broken into technicalities meant that Waverly was now comfortable with the label 'girlfriends' but in literally just meant that nothing between them had really changed, Nicole had opted out of telling her parents over the phone. She wanted to tell them in real life, face to face, now that it was possible and their visit had been so close. She'd told her siblings of course, because that hadn't been an option with Nathaniel's teasing and Nadine's constant – but well-meaning – support, so her older siblings had had to bribe Neville with candy to make sure he didn't spill the beans prematurely.

And now Waverly had done everything to prepare herself for this first in real life meeting, which meant that half of her carry-on suitcase was filled with presents for Nicole's parents. Ultimately the redhead knew that her girlfriend had nothing to worry about in regards to her parents, but she couldn't help but be excited for the fact that Waverly worried so much about them liking her. Her worry meant that she cared about what they thought, and that really meant that she cared about Nicole. So really, it was all good in Nicole's opinion.

The ride to the house was spent mostly with Neville going on about school and a new game for his playstation that he wanted Nicole to try with him; they were sitting together in the backseat of the car. Nathaniel didn't say much; he just drove while casting several glances at Waverly, who was sitting in the passenger's seat. The brunette was glancing out the windows silently, and Nicole slipped a hand over the back of the seat to meet Waverly's fingers in a resting hold over her shoulders.

When they finally arrived at the house, Neville ran quickly up the path to the front door, leaving it wide open in his wake, Nathaniel following him with both of their bags. Nicole took this probably very rare moment of quiet to rest her forehead gently against Waverly's and lock their eyes.

"You gonna be OK?" She whispered, sensing Waverly's nerves rolling off of her in waves.

Waverly's tongue darted out to wet her lips. "I've never met parents before," she honestly whispered then. "What if they don't like me?"

Nicole felt her heart flutter in her chest; so filled with love and adoration for this incredible woman in front of her. "Everybody likes you," she reassured her girlfriend in honest (she vaguely remembered Waverly telling her something about a sash and being voted the nicest person in Purgatory), "My parents will be no exception."

"God," Waverly hoarsely whispered, "I hope you're right."

Nicole pressed her lips to Waverly's forehead as she pulled back. She intertwined their fingers and guided the other woman with her up the path to the two story house. She felt the familiar pressure in her chest; the warmth of family and love oozing from the atmosphere and limbering her body. It was so familiar, and Nicole was thrilled to be able to share this side of herself with Waverly. It was such a huge part of her after all.

As they entered the house and closed the door behind them, Nicole heard the familiar sound of her mother bickering with Nathaniel in the kitchen, and her father's booming voice streaming out of the dining room. She heard kids laughing in playfulness, and Nadine's scolding "Voices _down_ children, _God_ ," from the living room.

Kicking off her shoes, Nicole offered Waverly's hand another reassuring squeeze before opening her mouth. "Ma! Paps!" She hollered, "Your favourite child is back!"

And thus came the rest of the Haughts; Molly was there first on her little legs, enveloping Nicole in a giant hug, and then came her mother's head, peeking around the corner from the kitchen, and her father strolling into the hallway with a beer in his hand.

"Nicki," he said then, his eyes trailing over his daughter's form, without a doubt checking to make sure that she still had all of her limbs.

Nicole wrapped her arms around him, "Paps," she said, pulling back and gesturing towards Waverly, "this is Waverly Earp, but you're already familiar, I guess," she chuckled, remembering the Skype-conversation that ended with this invitation. It felt like forever ago to be honest, but in reality it hadn't been that long.

Albert reached a hand forward then, wrapping his giant palms around Waverly's small hand and shaking it enthusiastically. "Waverly dear, it's so nice to finally meet you. My, you're even tinier in person," he chuckled, his eyes shining with mirth.

Waverly flushed slightly. It was barely even noticeable, but Nicole saw the pinking of her tan skin. "Likewise, Mr. Haught," she grinned, "I have to say, I'm usually not this much smaller than the other adults, you Haughts are just _tall_ ," she joked, dropping his hand and returning to her place next to Nicole, an arm around her midsection.

Nicole's arm immediately found its favourite place around Waverly's shoulders, and the smaller woman nestled herself against her side with a sigh. "Well, that just means you fit right next to me perfectly, yeah?" Nicole mused, pressing her lips against Waverly's temple.

Albert watched them silently, their casual familiarity not missed, and Nicole knew he was doing the math in his head. He couldn't hide the grin that magically appeared on his face then. "It's Albert to you, Waverly. And what am I sensing here?" He questioned, eyes moving to Nicole's eagerly, "Are you dating my youngest daughter?"

Waverly grinned. "Alright. Albert," she chuckled, tasting the word on her tongue as she undoubtedly tried to get used to this dynamic she had somehow stepped into. After all, Nicole knew that familial closeness, anything resembling a normal family, was not something Waverly knew a lot about. "And yes, I guess I can't hide the face that I am very much in love with Nicole," she let on, tilting her head backwards and looking up at the redhead.

Brown met green, and Nicole lowered her lips to peck Waverly's.

Marie, who had been watching them from the doorway to the kitchen, took this as her cue to interrupt, and she trotted forward, opening her arms to them both. "Oh this makes me so happy, girls," she whispered, tittering and wrapping an arm around both of them, thus forcing them into a bone-crushing three-way hug.

"Hi Ma," Nicole chuckled as her mother stepped back. She couldn't very well hide her own happiness at this moment; she was at home, visiting her family, and she had Waverly with her, Waverly who was her girlfriend, and everything just seemed damn-well perfect because of that. She knew that there was still plenty of time for her family to embarrass her greatly before she and Waverly had to go back to Alberta, but right now she simply couldn't care less.

"Thank you for having us," Waverly smiled, offering Marie her mega watt smile. It seemed that she was getting over her initial worries and shyness; she already appeared to be settling into her usual chipper Waverly self.

"You're always welcome, dear," Marie replied as she reached a hand out to cup Waverly's cheek. "Now," she said then, stepping back and casting an obvious glance over the couple, "I really must return to dinner, lest Nate manages to ruin it all for us!"

Nathaniel's head poked through the doorway with an offended, "Hey!"

Waverly laughed and stepped forward, "Let me help you? I quite enjoy cooking, I don't know if Nicole has told you that?"

"She has," Marie said as the two turned to walk down the hallway to the kitchen. Waverly turned around briefly to shoot Nicole a tentative smile, and the redhead offered her girlfriend a supportive thumbs-up as they rounded the corner.

"Kiddo," Albert said then, wrapping an arm around Nicole as he guided her towards the living room where Peter and Neville could be heard arguing over some kind of toy. "Let's have a beer, shall we? It's so good to have you back."

Nicole let her father guide her into the living room, where her brother-in-law and Nathaniel's new girlfriend greeted her, Nadine trusting a cold bottle into her hand. "It's good to be back, Paps," Nicole honestly said as she fell into one of the spare chairs and stared around her childhood home. Indeed, it was good to be back, but the most amazing part? Waverly was there with her.

—

The next day was spent preparing for the celebration, and Nicole and Waverly helped as best as they could. Most things were already taken care of, but they ran a few errands for her parents while the kids were at school, and it worked out very well for them, because Nicole used that time to show Waverly around her home town a bit.

Everything was going so wonderfully; Waverly fitted in so perfectly with Nicole's family, almost with an eerie familiarity, as if this was something they had done many times before and this was not her first visit. But it felt great, and Nicole couldn't wait to show Waverly off to everyone else who was going to be at the anniversary party. All of her parents' friends as well as the rest of the family.

Waverly especially bonded with Nicole's mother who loved that she loved to cook, and who shared all of her good advices about pregnancy for Waverly to take back home to Wynonna. Nicole enjoyed being able to spend some time with her father as well, and she didn't really mind leaving Waverly to fend for herself, because she knew that her girlfriend was more than capable.

Waverly was a bit nervous again though, as they arrived with Neville at the hall where the party was being held. Nicole understood that; this was a bit more people, a lot of new faces, and Nicole didn't even know everyone who was going to be there. Neville had taken a liking to Waverly though, as had Peter and Molly, and he was practically glued to her hand, tucking in between them as they greeted all of the arriving guests.

Nicole couldn't help but admire her girlfriend though. Waverly looked beautiful; dressed in a turquoise, loose- fitting dress with a blazer over it and dark pumps that gave her just a bit more height than her mere 5'3. Her hair was done in an elaborate tangle of braids and waves, and she was charming the pants off of practically every guest she talked to.

"This is Waverly," Nicole said for the umpteenth time; she'd lost count of how many times she had uttered those words, but she honestly felt like she was never going to ever grow tired of introducing her, "My _girlfriend_."

The dinner was a buffet, in true Haught family style. Waverly and Nicole had promised their parents to take care of Neville, because Nicole wanted them to just enjoy their evening and not worry about her baby brother eating and behaving. It wasn't long into the dinner though, before Neville ran off with the other kids to a playground outside, and they could fall into a conversation with the rest of their table which was Nicole's siblings and their partners.

"So your sister is pregnant?" Nadine asked then, as she nursed her glass of white wine, taking a break from the delicious food they'd all been enjoying. Waverly was done too, but both Nicole and Nathaniel were still eating.

Waverly beamed, nodding eagerly. "Yes. She's really starting to grow a belly now. I can't wait for the baby to come," she paused as her hand found Nicole's thigh next to her, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "The best part is that it's Nicole's friend Dolls who's the father, you see. So it's actually because of their whirlwind of an affair that Nic and I even know each other."

Nodding, Nicole gulped down a sip of beer to wash down her mouthful of food. "Yes, you won't even believe it. Dolls met her when she was thrown in _jail_ ," she explained, winking teasingly at Waverly.

Huffing, the brunette immediately came to her sister's defence. "Well, she wasn't in jail _per say_. She was thrown in holding for causing a ruckus. You know, being all Wynonna and shit."

Nathaniel broke into a full blown belly laugh. "A ruckus? I can't wait to meet this Wynonna someday."

"Don't worry," Waverly promised him then, eyes shining with mirth, "I'm sure you will."

Nicole couldn't hide her smile as she pushed her plate back a little, scanning her wrist to check the time. "She's something, I gotta say," the redhead replied, mentally trying to talk herself into what she knew she had to do soon. She'd been pushing it, and there had been other speeches, but she was mentally scolding herself for offering to be the one of the Haught kids to do the speech. She knew her parents would be disappointed though, if they didn't get a speech from their kids, even though they'd never say it aloud. "Did I tell you that I had to take her to the hospital? And of course _Shae's_ there and get to meet a pair heavily inebriated Earp sisters."

This time it was Nadine's turn to laugh. "No way! I'm sure Ms. Prissy just loved that."

"Hey," Waverly said then, playfully scolding Nadine, "be nice to Shae. She's a very sweet girl, and she took just great care of Wynonna's arm, hm?"

Grabbing Waverly's hand to tickle her fingers, Nicole playfully continued, "Yeah, and did I also tell you guys that apparently Waverly and Shae are best friends now?"

"I'm gonna go grab some more drinks," Waverly said then, pushing her chair back and looking around at the table. "Anyone want anything else?"

They all pitched in with their drink orders, and Nathaniel's girlfriend offered to help, because there were too many for Waverly to carry on her own. The two of them was off then, going to the bar with interlinked arms. Nicole and Nathaniel watched them leave, and Nicole couldn't help but admire her girlfriend's behind as she leaned over the bar to talk to the server.

"Ah, look at you two," Nadine teased then, successfully demanding their attention as she leaned back in her seat, her husband's arm coming to rest around her shoulders. "Young love, isn't it cute, darling?"

"It's very cute," he teased too, pressing his lips to the side of Nadine's face. He wasn't much of a talker, never had been, but he was perfect for Nicole's bossy older sister, because he took every hurdle, every demand, with a smile and his laid-back attitude.

Nicole stuck her tongue out at them, once more letting her eyes scan her wrist watch.

"No shit though," Nadine said, offering her a kind smile, "I really like Waverly. She's just… such a sweetheart."

Feeling the familiar warmth in her chest that always appeared whenever Waverly was near her or simply just mentioned, Nicole bashfully lowered her eyes. "Yeah, she's … she's really great."

Nathaniel took a sip of his beer, effectively emptying the bottle. "So when are you two moving in together? I think I've heard something about lesbians and a U-haul."

"Ha, ha," Nicole drily replied. She knew he was joking, but so was she – it really wasn't the first time she'd thought about moving in with Waverly. If her girlfriend wanted to be close to Wynonna and the baby, maybe she could move in to their house with them. Sure, it'd be filled with plenty of people, because Dolls was practically already living there as well (much to the joy of Eliza who just _loved_ having the apartment to herself as long as Dolls was still paying half the rent), and Nicole would of course have to bring Calamity Jane. But really, she simply couldn't imagine not spending the rest of her life with Waverly, and she kind of just wanted to get started on it. Sure, they couldn't live with Wynonna, Dolls and Baby Earp forever, and eventually they'd find their own place. Maybe not even in Alberta, because Nicole had always wanted to be a small town deputy. And Waverly just wanted to teach and do her activism.

It all sounded really, really great, to be honest.

"Ah look," Nathaniel continued to tease her then, "Nicki's blushing."

Nadine winked at her, "It's OK Nicki, we all approve. Ma practically wants to adopt her, and I think Neville is trying to steal her away from you."

Smiling around the table at her older siblings, Nicole met their eyes. Her fingers were fiddling with the label on her empty beer bottle as she spoke. "You guys seriously like her? You don't mind?" She heard herself question. It's not like she'd been really worried about what they would think, because they were always great, but it meant a lot to her that they liked Waverly – especially because she really loved her. And their road to this place hadn't been an easy one, and Nicole would just hate if her siblings disliked Waverly for how they had gotten there; how her girlfriend her taken a while to lower her walls and admit that there was something really special between them.

"We seriously like her, dude," Nathaniel promised, and she could tell by the look in his eyes that he was sincere. Nadine's husband nodded in agreement next to him.

"Nicki, we don't care how you got here," Nadine said then, reaching a hand out to clasp it over Nicole's, effectively ending her playtime with the label. "I mean, sure, it wasn't nice to hear how upset you were for a while there, but I can see that she really, really loves you-"

"-like _really_ loves you," Nathaniel butted in.

"And you're looking at her with heart-eyes," Nadine finished, squeezing her hand for good measure. "So there."

Nicole felt a sense of calm settle over her, "Thank you," she whispered.

"Thank you for what?" Waverly interrupted them, just as they returned to the table, carrying various different drinks for all of them. She reclaimed her seat next to Nicole and leaned over to peck her cheek.

Nicole felt herself blush. "Just uh, they were just approving my speech that I wrote, you know," she paused, swallowing loudly, "for our parents."

"Baby," Waverly said in true exasperation, her eyes turning wide. "I didn't know you were doing a speech! Why haven't you said so?"

"Nervous," Nicole just replied and her hand moved briefly to her pocket to make sure that she had remembered the piece of paper with the keywords on it. It was there. 'Thank God.'

Nadine winked at her, "Speaking of," she said, motioning towards the big clock behind Nicole, "isn't it about time?"

Nicole knew it was, so she wasn't even going to begin to argue with her sister on that one. She gave them all a curt nod and took in a deep breath; she could do this. Nadine and Nathaniel had approved of her speech just last week, and she had Waverly right next to her, and her parents were going to love it no matter what. So she took a hold of her spoon and gently knocked it against her glass of water, thus ending all conversation in the room.

She pushed her chair back, feeling Waverly reassure her with a brief squeeze of the hand, and stood up, feeling all eyes on her. The most important pairs of eyes were from her parents though, and they already looked like they were about to cry.

She unfolded her speech and awkwardly cleared her throat, "Uhm hi," she said nervously, which caused a few chuckles around her, "I'm uh, I'm Nicole," she said then, glancing briefly around the room, "for those of you who don't know. I'm Marie and Albert's third child, youngest daughter, and I was bullied into making this speech by my older siblings."

Nadine gasped, "Hey! There was no bullying."

Nicole continued on, undeterred, "I uh, I live in Alberta where I study, so I don't see my parents as much as I would like to, but that doesn't mean they don't support me fully," she said, angling her body slightly to the side, so she was facing her parents more. This was a speech for them after all. She could feel her nerves all over, but it was getting better by the second. She could do this, she was just thanking them for being awesome. "But uh, that doesn't mean they don't support me," she repeated, lifting her eyes to glance at her parents. "And uh, Mom. Dad. I would really like to thank you for that."

Marie's hand came to rest upon her chest, and Albert was already moving to wipe a tear from the corner of his eye.

"You guys have been the best parents I could have ever dreamt of," Nicole continued then, her voice faltering slightly as she spoke. "I mean, it probably wasn't in your plans for your third child to come out as gay in this small town that we live in, but you never once expressed disappointment or doubt in me. Your support helped me through some tough times in high school," she paused, feeling the gravity of what she was saying as it settled in the space between them, "I know it's not something that we talk a lot about, because we all believe that it's not something I should thank you for, because why should I? I've just been me, always, but I really want to just thank you for letting me figure stuff out on my own accord. Letting me be Nicole, uh, just Nicole. You didn't pressure me, and that's just so… so admirable," she chuckled, glancing briefly down at Waverly, who was looking up at her with such adoration and support, "and that's something I just really want to copy when I one day have a marriage and a family of my own."

Waverly smiled warmly up at her; to the brunette it wasn't far off that it could be them to have that marriage and that family. Even if she had been afraid of commitment – and probably still was most of the time – because she was so scared that it'd all get torn away from her again, there was no doubt in Nicole's mind that a marriage, family and a most of all _commitment_ was what Waverly wanted with her.

"That's still a bit off though," Nicole made sure to tell her parents, which caused a brief eruption of laughter in the room, "Waverly and I are not having kids right now, calm down parents!"

Marie shook her head, "Such a disappointment you are," she teased, but there was a complete look of love in her eyes just the same.

Nicole laughed. "Well, I look at you guys, and you are such an inspiration. I know Nate and I talk about it all the time. I think Nadine's figured it out a long time ago, she's been copying you guys for years with her own beautiful family," Nicole paused, looking briefly to her older sister, "But really, I think you guys figured out the way to make things work, and I just really, really envy and applaud you for that. You're great parents, great spouses, great people. Great role models," she reached for her glass of wine then, raising it as she smiled fondly at her parents, "And I just really want to say that… if in fifty, sixty years, Waverly and I are _half_ as happy as you guys," she paused, "then we'll still be the happiest couple I know."

Albert was crying now, using the sleeve of his suit to dab his cheeks as he grinned at her.

"To Ma and Paps," Nathaniel butted in then, standing up and raising his glass of wine, only to clink it to Nicole's.

"Ma and Paps," Nadine echoed from her seat, before everyone in the entire hall did the same and drank to them.

Nicole took her seat again, breathing out heavily and folding her speech on the table next to her. The speech had gone better than she'd feared it would, but it was nice that it was over. She'd meant every word of course – her parents truly were the best role models she could have wished for – but that didn't mean it was easy to say so in front of all of those people. She was glad that she had done it though, glad that she'd told Nathaniel that she could do it, even if he'd offered to do it for her just three days ago. She was glad Nadine had suggested it was her turn to speak on their behalf, because she really had had a lot on her chest that she usually didn't get to tell them. It was nice to have it all out there, and it was even nicer that Waverly had been there to witness it as well.

Pressing a kiss to Nicole's cheek, Waverly whispered hotly in her ear, "You did really well, baby," she said, "I'm so proud of you."

Nicole turned to look at her then, and for a second it was as if everyone else disappeared around them, and it was just the two of them, in their own little bubble. "Yeah? You are?"

"Mh," Waverly promised as she wrapped her arms around Nicole's shoulders, pulling her closer. She pecked her lips once, twice, before resting their foreheads together.

"It wasn't too much?" Nicole heard herself question. Perhaps she really just wanted Waverly to reassure her with another kiss.

Chuckling, Waverly did just that. "Not too much, just the perfect amount," she promised, and her green eyes were sparkling with happiness, love. Nicole felt like she could get lost in them forever if Waverly allowed her to.

Damn, she really just loved this woman a whole lot.

"So uh," Waverly whispered, tongue darting out to wet her lips, eyes still settled fondly on Nicole's, "marriage and kids, huh?"

"Yeah," Nicole bashfully replied, resisting the urge to avert her eyes from Waverly's to the table cloth or perhaps her fidgeting fingers. "Is that OK?"

Waverly's smile was huge as she replied, "It's more than okay," she whispered, and her fingers were doing that thing at the back of Nicole's head, where they played with her hair and generally made Nicole feel really loved and cared for.

The redhead breathed out. "I'm glad."

Waverly leaned forward, lips settling on Nicole's as she kissed her deeply, "I love you, you know," she said, as she pulled back briefly, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

Nicole felt warmth settle all over her once more; it moved from her heart all the way to her fingers and her toes, colouring her pale cheeks in a pink flush. She felt her heart beat madly in her chest, and she felt those somersaults in her stomach, because she just really, really cared for this woman in front of her. Like, unexplainably much. "Yeah?"

"Mh," Waverly whispered, nudging their noses together. "I'ma show you just how much later, m'kay?" She continued to whisper, lowering her voice as her eyes held promises of things to come.

"Yeah?" Nicole heard herself rasp again.

Waverly hummed, kissing Nicole just once more for good measure.

Closing her eyes, Nicole breathed out, "I love you too, you know?"

Waverly smiled warmly at her. "Oh yeah," she said, nodding her head and turning to join the rest of the table who had, thankfully, averted their eyes during this little exchange, "I know, Nicole. I always knew."

Pressing a kiss to Waverly's hair, Nicole turned to join her siblings as well. She reached for her beer and raised it to her lips, just as her hand came to settle comfortably, familiarly, on Waverly's thigh. She had no idea when her life had taken this turn and everything had fallen into place just as perfectly as she'd always dreamt of, but she wouldn't have it any other way.

Actually, scratch that. It had happened the second she had met Waverly Earp; her entire life had changed its course, and everything had appeared to make much more sense. With one simple request for just one beer, Nicole's entire world had turned on its axis, and she saw Waverly, just her sweet, perfect Waverly.

That woman… that woman was truly something.

"Nicki, you want to go make out in the bathroom?" She heard Waverly whisper then, as her hand came to rest dangerously close to the place where Nicole's thighs met.

She pushed her chair back. "Definitely."

Laughing, Nicole pulled Waverly with her towards the hallway where she continued to kiss her girlfriend.

She didn't even notice the way that her parents gazed lovingly after them, knowing very well that it wouldn't be long before there was another wedding to plan and grandchildren to be had. Marie and Albert Haught simply couldn't wait.

* * *

Last chapter - thanks for reading!


End file.
